Sammy expresses confidence in team; Bishoo set to make Test debut
WEST Indies captain Darren Sammy yesterday told a press conference ahead of today’s first Digicel Test match against Pakistan at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, he is confident his team will do well against  the toursits, when the action gets under way at 10:00hrs. Sammy was optimistic that the victory in the final limited overs international at the same venue one week ago will serve as a confidence-booster going into the Test match, knowing that their opponents are yet to win a series in the Caribbean.
“We believe we can win the series. We believe this because we have worked hard in the build-up to the series and we know we have the ability to perform on home turf and get the better of the Pakistanis. We saw an improved batting performance in the last two matches of the One Day Series and everyone in the team is feeling confident and fully prepared,” Sammy said.
“We hope all the hard work we have been doing in the nets and the two-day warm-up match a few days ago will be transferred into the middle. The way our bowling has been coming along in the last six months in one-day cricket and on the tour of Sri Lanka, we know we are capable of getting 20 wickets.”
Both teams held intense training sessions at the venue yesterday and Tuesday, but while the West Indies will be heartened at the return of their dependable middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a veteran of 129 Test matches, Pakistan will be missing their very own Younis Khan who returned home earlier this week, following the death of his brother in Germany.
Selecting the final eleven for the home team would be difficult, taking into consideration the form of the batsmen over the past few weeks, as well as the two-day practice match that was held earlier this week, with Pakistan taking on a Guyana Cricket Board President’s XI, while the West Indies played among themselves, with a few local players.
Marlon Samuels and Devon Smith got tons in the match for the West Indies, with Samuels hitting a pugnacious 213 from 169 deliveries before he was asked to retire, while Smith got an unbeaten 130 in his team’s overnight score of 311 for 5 declared.
What needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that Samuels’ innings was scored off an attack that was led by Sammy (3-64) and Kemar Roach (2-68) along with bowlers who ply their trade at the first division level in Guyana’s domestic cricket.
Opener Lendl Simmons had a prolific run in the limited overs series, but could not produce same in the practice match, despite having a productive season for Trinidad and Tobago in the Regional four-day competition, but is expected to partner Smith at the top of the Windies innings today.
Chanderpaul returns as well as Ramnaresh Sarwan who, along with Christopher Gayle, was overlooked for the limited overs series, with Sarwan playing the final three matches. With vice-captain Brendan Nash and the presence of the stylistic Darren Bravo means that Samuels may have to be content with the towel duties, unless coach Ottis Gibson and Sammy thinks otherwise.
Such a thought, however weak it may seem, may see Bravo and Simmons being asked to take care of the wicket-keeping duties, which automatically eliminates Carlton Baugh from the final eleven, thus ensuring Samuels gets a knock.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo is poised to make his Test debut in front of his home fans and being the lone spinner in the team will be burdened with the bulk of the bowling, which will not be strange, since he does same for Guyana along with left-arm orthodox spinner Veerasammy Permaul.
Sammy, Roach, the fiery Fidel Edwards, who is making a return to international cricket, and possible Ravi Rampaul will share the fast bowling duties for the home team, lending support to Bishoo who has been the leading wicket-taker.
While Smith and Samuels enjoyed a fruitful time in the middle with the bat, Pakistan’s skipper Misbah-ul-Haq also got a ton in his team’s practice match, while Mohammed Hafeez and Azhar Ali scored half-centuries.
It was evident that Khan was missing from the middle order, as the visitors lost three wickets for 44 runs against the Guyanese, until ul-Haq and Umar Akmal came together to add 69 for the fourth wicket.
Hammad Azam and wicketkeeper/batsman Mohammad Salman failed to get going on a good batting track, but with the way Pakistan have been playing lately, the West Indies would hope the same occurs for this match, especially since no member of their opponents’ team has ever played a Test match in the Caribbean.
Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan are capable new-ball bowlers while Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal will share the spin bowling for their team – a department that has been creating problems for the Windies throughout the limited overs series.
Billy Bowden and Tony Hill are the men in the middle of this encounter which gets under way at 10:00hrs.
West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (captain), Brendan Nash (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Carlton Baugh (wicketkeeper), Darren Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith.
Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Abdur Rehman, Hammad Azam, Junaid Khan, Mohammed Hafeez, Mohammad Salman, Saeed Ajmal, Taufiq Umar, Tanvir Ahmed, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Umar Akmal.