Dubai: When two unpredictable teams of world cricket clash in a Twenty20 match, cricket is bound to be at its best.
Pakistan and West Indies are demolishers of the opponents on their day and the million dollar question is who will dominate the first Twenty20 match of the three match series and gain a winning start.
West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite when asked about the possible result, said: “Media and the public often say we are both unpredictable, so hopefully we will get three very good unpredictable games from both teams. We know that on their day Pakistan can blow any team away and we are mindful of that fact and we will play them with due respect. We will go through our plans for each player. Not one second we will take them for granted. We appreciate and respect their skill that is in each and every player and go there and try to defend our form as the best T20 team in the world.”
Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad too was unable to give a definite answer. To a query whether his team is playing against the reigning world champions is a matter of concern, he said: “We haven’t given much thought to the fact that they are the world champions. Even when we played against England, they were the T20 finalists. But that never crossed our minds. We had decided that we will go out onto the field and give our 100 per cent. All that we want to do is to do well in all three departments of the game. The result is in God’s hands. If we give our 100 per cent here, the results too would be positive.”
Answering a query from Gulf News as to whether it could be a clash of the spinners as both the teams have fine spinners, Brathwaite said: “During the Pakistan Super League (PSL) held here, majority of the top wicket takers were actually pacers. It’s a myth that spinners only dominate in the sub-continent. We have back to back games and lot of things come into effect through wear and tear of the pitch if we are using the same wicket. We don’t think it is just which spinners bowl best or which team plays spin the best. It’s still a T20 game of cricket and pacers have their role to play so whichever team executes their skills the best on two days for their side will win.”
Sarfraz knows that West Indies have some of the hardest hitters in the game. When Gulf News asked whether they have planned anything special to defuse the hard hitters, Safraz said: “We have planned well for the West Indies. And we have had meetings as a group as well as with the bowlers. We have also watched video footage of the West Indies. So, we will try to take advantage of their weak points and bowl to them there.”
Pakistan is aware that West Indies players are coming fully fit after the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). “West Indies are coming after playing the CPL and there too, the weather is pretty much the same. It could be that they are a bit familiar with the conditions here. But I believe that in T20, who plays better on that day, will win,” said Sarfraz.
All eyes will be on Umar Akmal who may return to the Pakistan eleven. West Indies may also include either Rovman Powell or Nicholas Pooran. When Sarfraz was asked whether he would miss a senior player like Shahid Afridi, he said: “We had some star players, like you mentioned Shahid Afridi. We will definitely miss him but the team that we have, we have some new players who have come in. And we have the confidence in them that they will perform and do well.”
Teams: Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Saad Nasim, Rumman Raees.
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Evin Lewis, Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Andre Fletcher (wk), Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine, Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Jason Holder, Kesrick Williams, Chadwick Walton.
Start time: 8pm
