West Indies, Pakistan set for close battle

Fifty-three years ago, under the captaincy of Abdul Hafeez Kardar and parading top batsman Hanif Mohammed and ace pace bowler Fazal Mahmood, Pakistan toured the West Indies for the first time. And despite the longest innings in the history of Test cricket - a marathon 337 in 16 hours and 10 minutes in the first Test by Hanif - the West Indies, led by Garry Sobers' world record score of 364 not out in a total of 790 for three declared in the third Test, romped to a 3-0 victory.

Since then, Pakistan have visited the West Indies six times before their current tour, and despite the presence of some of the world's best batsmen and bowlers, batsmen like Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad, bowlers such as pacers Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram and leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and an all-rounder like Imran Khan, they have lost four times and managed a draw on two occasions.

Although their record at home, including one series in the United Arab Emirates, shows 23 matches, 11 victories, four losses and eight draws, in the West Indies it reads 21 matches, four victories, 10 losses and seven draws for a total of 44 matches, 15 victories, 14 losses and 15 draws.

pakistan's lead

In a nutshell, in individual Test matches at home, Pakistan lead the West Indies by seven, in home series they lead the West Indies by three, and overall, they lead the Test count, match by match, by one.

In the West Indies, however, Pakistan trail in the Test count by six, they are lagging behind the series count by four, and they are still cursing their luck for failing to win the series on two occasions - once in1988 when the series was drawn 1-1 after the West Indies squeezed home by winning the last Test at Kensington Oval by two wickets; and once in 2000 when the West Indies won the last Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground by one wicket to win the series 1-0.

This time, however, Pakistan are gunning for revenge and although they have not been able to play at home for some time now, even though internal squabbles have left them short of their best, although shouts of spot-fixing have robbed them of three of their best players, captain and batsman Salman Butt, bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, as well as ace leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, and even though top batsman Younis Khan has been forced to return home, they have been able to put together a fairly good team.

inexperienced line-up

In batting, Pakistan parade a line-up which is inexperienced but promises a lot, especially to those who like flashy batting.

Mohammad Hafeez - two centuries and an average of 31.44; Tafeez Umar - four centuries and an average of 39.25; Asad Shafiq - an average of 40.97; captain Misbah-ul- Haq - two centuries and an average of 42.91; Umar Akmal - one century and an average of 35.93; and Azhar Ali, with an average of 37.06, represent a good if not awesome batting line-up.

Any combination of pacers Umar Gul, left-hander Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and Hafeez with his off-spin, will be a good attack.

Gul with his away swing and Ajmal and Hafeez, with their dreaded doosra, will be difficult to find by the West Indies batsmen, and probably that is why Pakistan are slightly in front as favourites.

The series, however, starting tomorrow morning, could be a hard-fought affair, not because Pakistan will be without Younis Khan, not because they do not have one player who has played one Test match in the West Indies, but because, as bad as they have been playing, the West Indies do have a few players who could come good.

The West Indies batting will be without Chris Gayle, who made himself unavailable by playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL): it will be without Adrian Barath, who is nursing an injury; and it will also be without all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who is away playing in the IPL.

In action, however, will be, or should be Lendl Simmons, with no centuries and an average of 14.50; Darren Bravo, with no centuries and average of 68.66; Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with 22 centuries and an average of 48.98; Ramnaresh Sarwan, with 15 centuries and an average of 41.73; Brendan Nash, with two centuries and an average of 38.85; and Marlon Samuels, with two centuries and an average of 28.73.

The bowlers, coming from Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo, promise speed and quality spin which, combined with batsmen, could provide an aggregation which could be good enough to win this short two-Test series.

Simmons and Rampaul, one with a batting average of 14.50 and one with a bowling average of 109.75, do not look the part, based on their record.

They are, however, better than their record suggest, they have been batting and bowling better than their record and they seemed to have just come to grips with Test cricket.

sparkle and solidity

While Simmons, Bravo, Sarwan and Samuels, hopefully, will provide the sparkle to the batting, Chanderpaul and Nash will provide the solidity.

As far as the bowling is concerned, Roach, Edwards and Rampaul should provide the pace which, even on the slow pitches at Providence and Warner Park, should be enough to unsettle the Pakistani batsmen.

The man who could make all the difference, however, is Bishoo.

A right-arm leg-spin/googly bowler with wonderful control of line and length, Bishoo promises to develop into a bowler of class.

Pakistan are the early favourites, but with a little luck, with Bishoo showing the skills that could make him the best spin bowler in West Indies cricket since Sonny Ramadhin and Alfred Valentine, since Lance Gibbs, the West Indies could spring a surprise and destroy Pakistan's dream.