JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, CMC – West Indies will be looking to cause a stir in their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, when they face Pakistan today at The Wanderers.
Floyd Reifer’s inexperienced side are hoping to spring an early upset and cool some of the negative talk surrounding them, after the long-running dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association crippled the selectors.
Pakistan, the World Twenty20 champions a few months earlier, will be looking to take advantage of their severely depleted opponents, and put an early stamp on the competition, but Reifer has warned that his side has other ideas.
“There is a nervous energy in the camp, but we are not scared of anyone,” he said. “Once we get out onto the field, and get going that nervous energy will transfer to positive energy.”
He added: “We have watched Pakistan a lot on the television and on video analysis and we have had several meetings where we have planned our strategy. We have been able to come up with some tactics, but they have never watched us play, so that’s good for us.”
The under-strength West Indies side has been preparing for this day for the last three weeks. It also included four warm-up matches – two unofficial, two official – of which they were successful in only one.
This however, has not deterred Reifer, and he has called on his side to approach the match with a confidence belying their relative experience, and not focus on the names of the players in the other side.
“We have enjoyed the conditions and the pitches in South Africa, and are looking to do well,” he said.
“Improving our game is a serious matter to us and will take every opportunity to win,” he continued.
“We know Pakistan is a very good team with some very good players, but we won’t be playing names. We believe in our ability and we will be looking to play well in all three departments – batting, bowling and fielding.”
West Indies have been drawn in Group-A alongside the Pakistanis, defending champions Australia, and current World No.2 India. All their matches will be played at The Wanderers on Saturday and on Wednesday respectively.
Reifer acknowledged that his side is not highly favoured, but he noted that West Indies similarly were not favoured in the previous two editions of the competition – yet they won five years ago, and reached the Final three years ago when the Aussies stopped them.
“We are in the working stages,” he said. “We are looking to rack up experience and take on the challenges set before us, whether that’s against Pakistan, India or Australia. This is a major tournament and we want to do well.”
West Indies chances have been enhanced, after Pakistan suffered a setback, when their captain Younis Khan was ruled out of the match due to a finger injury.
“It is most unlikely that he will play,” said Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam. “He will start practising from [Wednesday], and I am sure he will be ready to play in the next match against India.”
He said: “It happened during a warm-up game. The injury is not serious. It’s a hairline fracture. He is a strong person and does not want to miss a match. He will start practising so that he could be fit for the remaining games.”
All-rounder Shahid Afridi will lead Pakistan in Younis’ absence in what would be his first One-day International as Pakistan captain. He has already led the national team in a Twenty20 match in Sri Lanka.
The match will also mark the return of fast bowler Mohammad Asif to the Pakistan side after serving a one-year ban for a failed dope test.
Squads: PAKISTAN (from): Shahid Afridi (captain), Fawad Alam, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Umer Akmal
WEST INDIES (from): Floyd Reifer (captain), David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kevin McClean, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton
UMPIRES: Steve Davis, Daryl Harper
TV UMPIRE: Simon Taufel
MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath
