Under the captaincy of Craig Brathwaite, the West Indies cricket team is currently visiting Pakistan for a two-match Test series, with the first match starting in Multan on January 17 and the second on January 25.
The Pakistan Cricket Board’s selection committee has announced a 15-member squad for the series.
Seven players who were part of the squad on the tour of South Africa were not included in the West Indies series.
Abdullah Shafiq, who was chosen as a starter for the South Africa tour, was not included in the squad due to his poor performance, while Saim Ayoub will be absent due to a broken ankle.
The selection committee included 29-year-old left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq and 22-year-old right-handed opener Mohammad Haris in the team.
Haris, from Sialkot, was also part of the Test squad against England. He has scored eight centuries in 44 first-class matches.
On the other hand, Imam scored 1568 points, including 3 centuries, in 24 tests.
Now, the question arises as to who will open the innings for Pakistan against West Indies.
During the second Test of the tour of South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town, after Sime’s injury, former captain Babar Azam opened the innings alongside Shan Masood in the first and second innings.
In the second innings, with Pakistan trailing by 421 runs, Shan Masood and Babar Azam produced a powerful partnership that lasted 205 runs.
It is now reported that the team management has decided not to open the innings with Babar Azam in the West Indies series.
The 30-year-old former skipper scored 58 runs in the first innings and 81 runs in the second innings during the Cape Town Test against the Proteas.
In the two Tests against South Africa, Azam scored 193 runs with 3 half-centuries in four innings.
In 57 Tests, the star batsman scored 4190 runs in 104 innings at an average of 44.10, with 9 half-centuries.
He will probably bat at number three in the West Indies series. He played 21 innings at number three in Test cricket, scoring 564 runs at an average of 29.68.
However, his best performances as a batsman in Test cricket came while batting at number four, where he scored 52 runs.