The abrupt withdrawal of New Zealand and England's refusal to travel to these shores were a couple of setbacks for Pakistan a few months back. But they'll be happy to welcome West Indies who become the second team after South Africa to play a series in Pakistan this year. The return of international cricket in Pakistan is a much-needed boost although it is against a depleted West Indies side, with Covid positive results for Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers just before the series reducing the squad strength to 12 members.
Dwayne Bravo has retired, Chris Gayle isn't part of the set up, Jason Holder has been rested, Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy are unavailable due to injuries while Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons pulled out due to personal reasons. With white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard also missing out due to an injury, the Nicholas Pooran-led T20I outfit is a relatively inexperienced one.
That in itself isn't such a bad thing considering West Indies are looking to move on from a disastrous 2021 T20 World Cup campaign. The injection of freshness gives them the opportunity to test the waters as part of the preparations for the next edition of the T20 World Cup which will be held in less than a year's time in Australia.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have put their semifinal exit in the T20 world event behind them and have pressed on, rampaging a clueless Bangladesh 3-0 in the T20Is. But skipper Babar Azam didn't look at his best during the series, with scores of 7, 1 and 19. While he'll be keen to get amongst the runs and lead from the front, there's also the template that Pakistan have followed in recent times - the openers trying to provide a stable platform without going all out at the start - which they might try to change a bit and also test out their middle order which has not always been consistent. Pakistan also have a settled bowling unit despite Hasan Ali being rested for the series, and have enough fire-power - even if they follow the rotation policy - to get the job done.
(With inputs from agencies)