Reigning World Twenty20 Champions West Indies and 2009 winners Pakistan will play two T20 games at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown. The first match will be played on Saturday.
The game will begin at 11:30 PM IST (27 July) and it will be broadcast live in India on Ten Sports channel.
Overview:
Twenty20 matches between West Indies and Pakistan will be interesting as they have played the short format of the game against each other only once. The contest will be even more interesting because of the presence of explosive batsmen in both the teams.
After being hurt by the ODI series defeat, West Indies will be keen to win the two T20 matches and entertain their home crowd. They are unbeaten in this format of the game ever since they lifted the World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka last year.
Pakistan will come into the contest after winning the ODI series 3-1, which will boost their confidence. However, T20 cricket is a different game all together and they will be well aware that West Indies have hard-hitting batsmen who can demoralize the bowlers.
Previous Meetings:
West Indies and Pakistan have played only one T20 game at Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia in 2011. West Indies won the contest by seven runs.
Team News:
West Indies: Darren Sammy will lead the team though ODI captain Dwayne Bravo is in the squad. Batsman Devon Smith and fast bowlers - Kemar Roach and Jason Holder - have been replaced by all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, fast bowler Shannon Gabriel and spinner Samuel Badree.
Hard-hitting bastmen like Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, who didn't contributed much in the ODI games, will be expected to fire in T20 matches.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq, who led the team to a series win, is not in the T20 squad, and Mohammad Hafeez has been named the captain. Ehsan Adil, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq, who were in the ODI squad in the recently concluded series, have been left out. Batsman Hammad Azam, fast bowler Sohail Tanvir and all-rounder Zulfiqar Babar have been brought in for the two T20 matches.
Prediction:
Pakistan may be brimming with confidence after the ODI series win but West Indies are expected to win in their favourite format of the game.
Squads:
West Indies: Darren Sammy (C), Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Christopher Barnwell, Sunil Narine, Tino Best, Shannon Gabriel, Samuel Badree
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (C), Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan
