Pakistan eye history in Test series against Windies
Pakistan are looking to become the latest international side to
create history on Caribbean soil, when they begin their search for a
maiden Test series victory against West Indies, starting on Thursday at
the Guyana National Stadium.
On six previous visits, starting back in 1958, the Pakistanis have
come awfully close, but they have failed each time.
The visitors share the unenviable record of being one of the two
Test-playing nations not to hold a Test series victory in the Caribbean
along with Sri Lanka.
Pakistan have won just four of the 21 Tests they have played in the
Caribbean, but there is huge optimism that Misbah-ul-Haq's side,
brimming with confidence having won the preceding One-day International
series 3-2, can put this little matter to rest.
The Pakistanis have far fewer concerns about their line-up than their
opponents.
Though they have lost former captain Younis Khan to a family
bereavement, there are strong signs that the batting still has backbone
with the likes of Misbah, Mohammad Hafeez, and Umar Akmal.
The visitors' bowling has been boosted with the arrival of Umar Gul,
whose fast bowling will give the attack a greater edge, but the spin
bowling of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, as well as Hafeez could prove
decisive against typically leaden-footed West Indies batsmen.
All of this means that West Indies will have their hands full trying
to protect their cherished record at home against the visitors - and the
internal turmoil that has bedevilled the side will not make things any
easier.
The Windies have not won a Test series, let alone a Test, in just
over two years, and it would require an amazing performance, or an
incredible change of fortune for them to turn the tide against Pakistan.
The hosts trimmed their squad to 13 following a warm-up match over
the weekend, and predictably, fast bowler Fidel Edwards has been
recalled following a two-year absence, and veteran left-hander
Shivnarine Chanderpaul has also been included.
Edwards was sidelined by a career-threatening back injury that
required surgery, and returned to serious competitive action this year,
taking 22 wickets for his native Barbados in the WICB Regional
first-class championship.
He has not played a Test since the ill-starred tour of England two
years ago, and is playing his first international match since the World
Twenty20 Championship later that same year.
Chanderpaul has been embroiled in a public war of words with the West
Indies Cricket Board, following his exclusion from the ODI series, which
he claimed followed his refusal to retire from that form of the game.
The durable left-hander will have a major challenge though. He
roundly criticised West Indies coach Ottis Gibson for interfering with
his approach to batting, so the relationship between the two will be
closely monitored. Australia-born left-hander Brendan Nash, the vice
captain, has also been included.
He has been pigeon-holed as a player for the longer format of the
game, and has not played an international match since the
weather-ravaged Test series in Sri Lanka last year.
The return of Marlon Samuels to Tests for the first time in three
years, following a two-year international ban for inappropriate contact
with an alleged Indian bookie, will also be closely followed.
He warmed-up for the task with a double hundred in the practice match
over the weekend, but his batting during the ODIs seemed to betray him.
Since the ground opened four years ago just ahead of the 2007 World
Cup, the pitch plays typically slow and low, but Sri Lanka, batting
first, piled-up a big first innings total, and pressured West Indies for
the remainder of the only Test that has been played here, resulting in a
121-run victory.
As always, the match will be contested with one eye on the skies due
to Guyana's famously fickle weather, with a 60 percent chance of
scattered thunderstorms predicted in the long-range weather forecast.
The teams
West Indies (from): Darren Sammy (captain), Brendan Nash (vice
captain), Devendra Bishoo, Carlton Baugh Jr, Darren Bravo, Shiv
Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels,
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith
Pakistan: (from): Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Abdur Rehman, Asad Shafiq,
Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam , Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Salman,
Saeed Ajmal, Tanvir Ahmed, Taufiq Umar, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab
Riaz, Younis Khan.
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