West Indies, unchanged for the third successive Test, elected to bowl under overcast conditions in the series decider in Roseau. The last time they went in with the same XI for three consecutive Tests – including the abandoned game due to a sandy outfield in Antigua against England – was in 2009.
Misbah-ul-Haq, set to retire after this Test, didn’t want the occasion to get to the team and hoped they would be able to treat this as another normal game. He also underlined the importance of batting well in the first innings.
An illness to Ahmed Shehzad meant another opportunity for Shan Masood, who last played a Test in England last year. Conditions may have dictated a Test debut for Hasan Ali, which meant a game on the bench for legspinner Shadab Khan.
West Indies: Kieran Powell, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Roston Chase, 6 Vishaul Singh, 7 Shane Dowrich, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Shannon Gabriel
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, 2 Shan Masood, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Mohammad Abbas, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Yasir Shah. (ESPNCricinfo)
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.
