Pakistan v West Indies, 2nd ODI Preview: Both teams will take field with one eye on World Cup 2019 qualification

The second One-Day International between Pakistan and West Indies will not just define the series but also World Cup 2019 qualification. A victory for the hosts will aid their rise in the ODI team rankings and with that, they will safely take over the No. 8 position and thus cut through as a direct qualifier while West Indies will have to go through the qualifying matches to enter the main draw.

It will once again be the battle between Pakistani bowlers and the depleted West Indies batting. They haven’t had a clue against the spinners and that has seen the rise of young left-arm spinner Imad Wasim who has bowled some tight spells to bind down the expected to be exponential West Indians. The task for Jason Holder will be to regroup his unit and inspire them to defy the obvious and put up a show worth standing by.

Pakistan:

One of the only few concerns for Pakistan at the moment is skipper Azhar Ali. He has been under pressure to step down given that captaincy has adversely affected his performance and the management rather prefer to have him in the team as an opener but Azhar persisted and will have to prove himself by the end of the series or will perish.

As far as the team on the whole is concerned, they have been playing really well. Coach Mickey Arthur and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq will be mighty pleased with the effort of the new faces. The likes of Imad, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Nawaz have played instrumental parts in the series thus far and will give the two guys a lot of hope since it was a courageous move in first place to drop the more established names and back the potentials.

All the three pacers Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali will be expected to do their part as well though there won’t be any assistance on offer from the surface, but they are lethal enough on their own to depend on other factors.

West Indies:

There are more noes than yeses when West Indies look back to assess things. No, their batsmen haven’t shown responsibility. No the senior pros – Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine expected to guide the younger lot around and lead them by example haven’t even done enough to survive their spots in the team. Yes, it’s a collective failure and yes, it asks for immediate remedies and the last no, it’s not going to happen overnight.

But with the World Cup qualification on the line Holder should be able to convince his men to leave what has happened behind and do their best to ensure a victory here. The bowling department has lacked teeth as well when you see a rookie like Imad Wasim scalping regular wickets since the wickets in the UAE have always been pro tweakers but Sunil Narine has failed miserably.

A player of his stature struggling for wickets is a saddening sight but such is the standard of cricket that if you don’t catch up, you are left behind and that seems to be the case with the remodeled Narine. It looks likely that Windies will opt for Jonathan Carter as the opener for this game since Evin Lewis hasn’t done anything substantial to keep his place.

Probable XI-

Pakistan:

Azhar Ali (C), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali

West Indies:

Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder (C), Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Sulieman Benn, Shannon Gabriel

Match details:

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah

Time: 11:00 AM GMT

Telecast: Ten3

StatAttack:

1. Wahab Riaz is 4 wickets short of 100 ODI wickets.

2. Babar Azam is the second Pakistan player who has an ODI ton and a less than 1000 ODI runs. Majid Khan is the only other batsman with such a feat to his name.

3. Pakistan has won just 4 of their last 10 matches at Abu Dhabi.

4. Sunil Narine requires another 10 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets.

5. Kieron Pollard needs just 1 wicket to complete 50 ODI wickets.

6. Denesh Ramdin (187) requires 2 dismissals to leapfrog Ridley Jacobs (189) to the 2nd place among West Indian keepers. Jeff Dujon is at the 1st place with 204 dismissals to his name.

7. Marlon Samuels requires 24 runs to break Gordon Greenidge’s ODI run-scoring record (5134 runs) and replace him at No. 9 on the list of leading run-scorers for West Indies in ODIs.