Pak vs WI: Pakistan will play their first T20I against West Indies tomorrow

Pak vs WI: Pakistan will play their first T20I match against West Indies at National Stadium Karachi, starting tomorrow (Monday).

Skipper Babar Azam hopes to keep Pakistan’s T20I World Cup 2021 winning momentum going against a West Indies in the T20I series.

Three West Indies players have tested positive for coronavirus in Karachi and were ruled out of the Twenty20 series, left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell, all rounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers.

The Player are kept under isolation for 10 days in Karachi and will be monitored by the team physician until they return negative for coronavirus.

Three T20Is will be played on 13, 14 and 16 December, while the ODIs will be played on 18, 20 and 22 December.

Several players of West Indies are not touring Pakistan, white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard, who will miss out due to hamstring injury during the T20 World Cup, while Andre Russell will miss the series due to the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia.

“We will try to carry the momentum which started in the (T20) World Cup,” Babar told reporters during a video conference on Sunday. “We are not going to take them (West Indies) easy because they didn’t bring their best players. They have played in the CPL (Caribbean Premier League) and international games, so you have to give your 100 per cent to beat them.”

Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh in the T20 series 3-0 in Bangladesh before winning the two-match Test series 2-0.

“It’s a difficult time for a team when your player tests positive [for Covid],” he said. “It’s difficult to live in isolation, our team has gone through this. Lots of negative things do come in your mind when you are alone in the room and the team combination also gets affected,”

The Pakistan government has allowed full capacity crowds at Karachi National Stadium for the first time after the coronavirus pandemic and Babar hoped the home team fans will get to see some quality cricket.

“The main thing is we are playing the home series and for us, the best thing is full crowd will be allowed inside the stadium,” Babar said.