PROVIDENCE: West Indies know the enormity of the challenge that face them to pre-qualify for the 2019 ICC World Cup and will step up to meet it in the three One-day Internationals against Pakistan over the few days here at the Providence Stadium.
With the first game starting on Friday, both sides will be anxious to win for a good reason since both are in danger of missing out on direct qualification for the World Cup in England with Pakistan occupying the last qualifying spot by virtue of their eighth spot on the ODI rankings.
The West Indies, the 1975 and 1979 world champions, are at present sitting in ninth position on 84 points, five points behind 1992 winners Pakistan. Bangladesh, who recently drew their three-match series with Sri Lanka, are seventh on 92 points.
West Indies lead Pakistan 15-13 on head-to-head battles on soil and have a chance to move ahead of the visitors —to overtake Pakistan by whitewashing them in the forthcoming series but should they lose this series they will face an uphill battle to avoid the qualifying tournament.
The hosts will need to find something extra with bat in hand if they are to avoid defeat to a confident Pakistan side boosted by the T20I series win just days ago and the knowledge that they whitewashed the West Indies when they last met in the UAE in 2016.
West Indies batsmen have shown a chronic lack of application when under pressure but their bowlers have shown a willingness to fight hard for the cause, such as when they had England in a spot of bother in the second of three ODIs earlier this year.
Shai Hope, Jason Mohammed and Jonathan Carter have shown promise but the West Indies will need more from them and explosive opener Evin Lewis if they are to compete.
Pakistan have a lethal bowling attack capable of testing the hosts with out and out pace or the guile of their tweakers with teenaged leg-spin sensation Shadab Khan one to watch.
The visitors have had batting problems of their own particularly when faced with big run chases or when they find themselves under pressure.
Pakistan have been accused of having an old-fashioned approach to ODI cricket and will look to shake off that tag in this series although even a clean sweep of the West Indies is unlikely to get the critics off their backs as the hosts are perceived as sitting ducks right now.
But the Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan should have too much quality for the West Indies to handle with an inexperienced batting lineup.Lewis really needs to fulfill his potential and play big innings for the West Indies if they are to compete with Pakistan who by contrast are vastly experienced with bat and ball, while Shannon Gabriel is a good old-fashioned fast bowler, fast and aggressive and he can trouble the Pakistan batsmen if the surface plays along.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Hafeez will need to be a leader up at the top of the order in the absence of former skipper Azhar Ali and it will fall to him to lay a good platform for acceleration.
Shadab is in tremendous form and already looks like a key player even though he is set to debut in this series. The West Indies have found little answer to his cunning variations thus far.
Teams (from):
WEST INDIES: Jason Holder (captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jonathan Carter, Miguel Cummins, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton.
PAKISTAN: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Asif Zakir, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Fahim Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Asghar.
Umpires: Joel Wilson (West Indies) and Simon Fry (Australia).
TV umpire: Ian Gould (England).
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (West Indies).
