ICC Champions Trophy 2013 preview: Talented West Indies take on mercurial Pakistan

Former champions West Indies will lock horns with the incredibly unpredictable Pakistan in what promises to be a high-voltage Group B Champions Trophy clash at the Oval on Friday.

Chris Gayle’s aggregate of 695 in Champions Trophy matches is the highest among all batsmen © Getty Images

London: Jun 6, 2013

Former champions West Indies will lock horns with the incredibly unpredictable Pakistan in what promises to be a high-voltage Group B Champions Trophy clash at the Oval on Friday.

The Caribbean team, which won the title in 2004 besides finishing runners-up in 1998 and 2006, is high on star power with the intimidating presence of in-form Chris Gayle.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is a team full of greenhorns despite being led by the oldest player in the event — a 39-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq.

A look at the line-ups would make the West Indies slight favourites for Friday’s match. Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach have the ability to just knock out the opposition attack with their power-hitting.

In fact, the troika of Gayle, Pollard and Samuels displayed good form at the recent IPL and would be looking to carry the confidence into the Champions Trophy even though the format would be different. Skipper and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is another player who can be a match-winner on his day.

Gayle’s aggregate of 695 in Champions Trophy matches is the highest among all batsmen.

On the bowling front, the outfit has quite a few tricksters in the line-up, including the surprise package of pacer Jason Holder.

The youngest in the team is 6’8″ tall and could prove to be a decisive factor in the seaming conditions with his medium pace.

Among the slower bowlers, Sunil Narine has been a proven performer and would be expected to work his magic in the competetion after a stupendous IPL performance.

The West Indians were, however, handed a sound thrashing by the Australians in their most recent ODI assignment at the beginning of the year and it remains to be seen whether they can regroup.
Interestingly, the West Indians have the record of most number of matches won in the Champions Trophy, having registered 12 victories.

Pakistan, in contrast, have no big match-winners to boast of after the ouster of senior players such as Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan. Their pace spearhead Umar Gul was ruled out due to injury.

But if any team is capable of doing exactly what is not expected of it, it is Pakistan. Misbah’s men are considered mercurial and temperamental but talented and passionate nonetheless.

It remains to be seen which bunch turns up at the Oval to match the West Indian flair.

In the absence of Afridi, Kamran Akmal would be expected to perform the pinch-hitter’s role lower down with Misbah and Shoaib Malik being the backbone of a fragile middle-order.

Their bowling attack, however, looks interesting with three left-arm pacers, including the 7’1″ tall Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz. The two right-armers are Asad Ali and Ehsan Adil.

In the absence of Gul, senior offspinner Saeed Ajmal remains the most experienced bowler and he would be expected to work his magic.

In the overall analysis, both the teams have a reputation of revving up the mundane and it would be interesting to see which of the two manages to get going tomorrow.

Teams

West Indies (probable): Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles (wk), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (c), Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine, Kemar Roach

Pakistan (probable): Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wk), Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan

Time: 15:00 IST | 09:30 GMT