West Indies vs Pakistan, ODIs 2025: Decoding key player battles
What's the story
West Indies and Pakistan will be fighting hard in a three-match ODI series to be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad on August 8, 10, and 12. On Wednesday, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a 15-member squad. Earlier, Pakistan too announced a 16-man squad for the ODIs against West Indies. Here we decode the key player battles.
#1
Shaheen Afridi vs Shai Hope
Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi will target WI skipper Shai Hope. As per ESPNcricinfo, Afridi has dismissed Hope once across 2 ODI innings. The batter owns 29 runs from 35 balls in this duel. Overall, Afridi has managed 127 scalps from 64 matches with three of them coming against West Indies. Hope has bagged 273 runs against Pakistan from 7 matches at 39.
#2
Jayden Seales vs Babar Azam
West Indies pacer Jayden Seales will have a crucial role to play in the absence of Alzarri Joseph. Seales has bowled to Babar in a solitary contest, conceding 14 runs from 13 balls without dismissing the latter. The pacer has taken 21 scalps from 22 ODIs at 44.19. Meanwhile, Babar, who averages a stellar 79.66 versus WI, has amassed 6,235 ODI runs at 52.17.
#3
Gudakesh Motie vs Mohammad Rizwan
West Indies spinner Gudakesh Motie will be keen to stop a clutch player like Mohammad Rizwan. Motie has bagged 34 ODI wickets at 30.88. He has two four-fers under his belt. Motie is yet to bowl to Rizwan with the Pakistan skipper holding a neat average of 47.62 versus spinners in 67 ODI innings. Rizwan owns 2,644 ODI runs at 41.31.
Squads
Here are the two squads
WI squad: Shai Hope (captain), Jewel Andrew, Jediah Blades, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd. PAK squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem, Saim Ayub, Afridi, Sufyan Muqeem.