West Indies are all set to Play Pakistan for a three-match ODI series between June 8 to 12. All the matches will be played at the Multan International Cricket Stadium in Multan.
The Windies side will head into this tour after beat the Netherlands 3-0 in a three-match ODI series With the final ODI winning by 20 runs, the West Indies were able to whitewash the tournament.
Pakistan and West Indies played three T20Is before the outbreak of the virus in their camp. The ODI series was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The forthcoming ODI series will have no bio-secure bubble.
The temperature is expected to top 45 degrees Celsius this week in Multan, and organizers have pushed back the starting time for games to 4pm local time to give some respite.
The Pakistan Cricket Board also planned to provide players with ice collars and vests during stoppages in play and extra water breaks to keep them hydrated.
“The heat is going to be extreme, (but) Pakistan are playing in the heat, too, so it’s going to be an even contest when we start the day,” said Windies coach Phil Simmons on Tuesday.
“How we deal with it before, during and after is going to help us a lot.”
West Indies are coming off a 3-0 series win over Netherlands last week at Amstelveen, where their top-order batters scored prolifically.
The two spinners, Akeal Hosein and Hayden Walsh Junior, took the bulk of the wickets,.
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is happy his team is getting the chance to finish off the series.
“We planned to see how we can win the three games and see how we can get points out of this to take us further up the table because we only have one more series for points,” Simmons told CWI Media.
“We are looking to win the three games. We are looking to play cricket the way we will have to, to win the three games in these conditions,” Simmons added.
Simmons said the Netherlands series gave some of the newer players in the team the chance to settle in.
“It’s a young team, and it gave us a chance to settle in as a team. It was also challenging as the wicket was a good wicket and it’s a case where we needed to play properly and we needed to keep improving and we did that,” Simmons said.
West Indies will be strengthened with the return of Rovman Powell and Romario Shepherd, who both missed the series against the Netherlands because of visa issues.
“That series was good in a way because it gave guys a chance to settle in as a team,” Simmons said. “It’s a young team. We needed to keep improving and we did that during the series.”
West Indies face Pakistan in the opening ODI on Wednesday at the Multan Cricket Stadium.