AFTER a slew of white-ball cricket, West Indies will now commence their campaign in the second World Test championship with the two Tests against the highly favoured Pakistan in Jamaica.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, said they are confident and called on the players, especially the batsmen to have self-belief.

Pakistan have won their last two-Test series against West Indies (both in 2017), and they enter this series, with series wins over South Africa, the side who hammered West Indies in two Tests in June, and Zimbabwe.

Another barrage of pace and high-quality spin will be served up by the World’s number-five-ranked Test team to a West Indies batting unit who have a recurring issue.
West Indies have not defeated Pakistan at Sabina Park since 1977, with the teams having split four Test matches down the middle. Pakistan’s victories came in 2005 and 2017.

“It is Test cricket; it is a different series and different conditions. Pakistan are always a good Test team. They have a lot of young fast-bowlers and we know what we have to do. The batting obviously let us down the last series and we had a really good camp and all the guys are in the right space,” the skipper stated on the eve of the first Test.

The prolific Babar Azam, Azhar Ali, and Mohammad Rizwan are some key pillars in Pakistan’s batting and Brathwaite said they have plans to combat such threats.

“They are world-class batsmen and obviously most teams have world-class batsmen and we have world-class bowlers. We won’t focus on the opposition per say, we focus on our strengths and our disciplines,” he expressed.

“It is not going to be easy; they have world class batsmen and we are going to have to work extra hard to do it and I really look forward to the challenge.”

The skipper indicated that he is confident despite the absence of seasoned Shannon Gabriel. The young recruits Jayden Seales and Chemar Holder can fill the void for what he calls a “world-class bowling attack”.

The match today is scheduled to commence at 11:00hrs Eastern Caribbean time.

West Indies squad for the first Test: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Kieran Powell, Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.

Out from 17-man squad: Shamarh Brooks, Rahkeem Cornwall, Chemar Holder, Jahmar Hamilton

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (capt.), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-capt, wkp,), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wkp,), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Yasir Shah, Zahid Mahmood.