PAK vs WI: Match Preview, West Indies Tour of Pakistan, 2nd T20I 

Pakistan and West Indies are set to take on each other in the second T20 international on Tuesday at National Stadium in Karachi. Pakistan would be confident of winning the series, given how well they have played in the shortest format in the last few months.

PAK vs WI: Match Preview, West Indies Tour of Pakistan, 2nd T20I

Pakistan:

Pakistan were outstanding in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. They won 5 out of five matches played during the league stage. The Men in Green recently beat Bangladesh 3-0 in the three-match T20 series in Bangladesh.

Babar Azam and Boys would be hopeful of continuing their dominating run in the format. Babar Azam is leading the side. He didn’t play to his potential in Bangladesh in the T20 series and would be looking to get back amongst the runs.

The skipper will be supported by the likes of M Rizwan, Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah. Senior players such as Shoaib Malik and M Hafeez have been rested for the series. Besides, all-rounder Imad Wasim and Hasan Ali also miss out on the series. Shadab Khan will continue to lead the spin attack.

As for the pace department, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will be the biggest bets. Pakistan have also included three more pacers, namely Shahnawaz Dhani, M Hasnain, and Usman Qadir to bolster the attack.

West Indies:

West Indies, on the other hand, isn’t playing with a full-strength squad. Most of the first-choice players are unavailable due to different reasons. The likes of Ewin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons opted out of the tour due to personal reasons. Former skipper, Jason Holder has been rested, while the current skipper Kieron Pollard is still recovering from the hamstring injury.

Nicholas Pooran is leading the West Indies T20 side in the absence of Pollard. The team would be banking on him to score runs. Besides, the batting department also consists of the likes of Brandon King, Shai Hope, and Darren Bravo. There is no denying that West Indies have a great depth to the batting unit.

The presence of all-rounders such as Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith, and Romario Shepherd makes it a formidable batting unit. All three performed exceedingly well in the CPL 2021 and it will be interesting to see how they go about their business in the international assignment.