In what has been a disappointing home season for West Indies, with the
twin failures in the tri-series and a 3-1 defeat in the one-day series
to Pakistan, the hosts have a chance to salvage pride in a format that
hasn't let them down in recent months - Twenty20. Since winning the
World T20 in Sri Lanka last year, West Indies have not dropped a single
game, and with history on their side, nothing less than a 2-0 triumph
will be enough to bring some cheer to their fans as the islands prepare
for a brace of T20s in the form of the Caribbean Premier League, which
gets underway two days after the two back-to-back games against
Pakistan.
Save for series victories against unfancied Zimbabwe at home, West
Indies have been a let down against better opposition, starting from the
Champions Trophy. The expectations were raised after winning a world
title last year and winning six consecutive Tests (albeit against the
weaker sides). Fatigue was one of the factors attributed to their slump,
with several key batsmen like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne
Bravo taking active part in the IPL and other leagues, without much rest
between series. It has shown in the performances in at least two of the
three players and there is very little time to turn the corner. It was a
forgettable season for another reason: the decision to sacrifice Tests
for more one-dayers for monetary reasons and accommodating the CPL is
unpalatable for the cricket purist. It appears that T20s are the flavour
of the season, starting Saturday.
Not too long ago, Pakistan had endured a similar slump, bowing out of
the Champions Trophy without a win. Commonsense prevailed when the
selectors chose not to make the captain the scapegoat and instead
recalled impact players like Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal, who made
vital contributions in the one-dayers. The batsmen had a lot to answer
for after the debacle in England and in testing batting conditions in
the West Indies, there was an improvement, at least in the last three
games. Misbah-ul-Haq, much ridiculed for his conservative approach to
batting which sometimes drastically slows down the innings, was the
pivot around which the batting revolved. His one-day numbers in 2013
speak for themselves, but he is not around for the T20s. Can Pakistan be
just as effective without him?
Form guide
West Indies WWWWW (most recent first, last five completed matches)Pakistan WLWLW
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