As the 2023-2025 cycle of the World Test Championships comes to a close, West Indies and Pakistan will play their final Tests against each other in a West Indies’ two-match tour of Pakistan.
On one hand, West Indies are coming off a 1-1 series draw against Bangladesh, while Pakistan are fresh off a 2-0 series loss to WTC finalists South Africa. With a chance for some redemption on the line, West Indies Head Coach Andre Coley spoke of returning to the Asian country after some years, while detailing the West Indies’ preparation there.
“New series and new opportunity. As you mentioned, we haven’t played a Test match in Pakistan for a few years, and so we’re all looking forward to the challenges it will pose. Yes, it’s slightly cooler than what we would’ve been accustomed to in the Caribbean, but we’re prepared for that,” Coley shared during an interview.
West Indies Test Head Coach Andre Coley
He added, “We’re not going in our prep with any expectations. When we go there, we’ll assess the conditions. So, cool idea of having some prep time ahead of the Test series. You know, sometimes you could go into a series, into conditions that (are) a bit different than what you’re used to at home. But we’re going to make sure, when we get to the ground, we’re going to assess what the conditions are, and then we prepare. Based on what we expect in Multan, we will then continue to shape our preparation around that,” he disclosed.
Asked whether or not his team would be looking to make history, since West Indies last defeated Pakistan in a Test series back in 2017, Coley responded in the negative, giving preference to just seizing opportunities.
“Creating history, there’s always an opportunity. Once you play a series or a match, there’s an opportunity in itself. Focus shouldn’t be around creating history; it’s around using the learning from 2024 and that consistency that we’ve been searching for over the last 12 months. Being more consistent around how we want to play, the brand of cricket that we want to play, use this as an opportunity to be better and do it in conditions that in some instances can be different,” he explained.
A look at West Indies’ arrival in Pakistan earlier this week
“So, for us, it’s about us preparing, whether it’s a pace or spin-friendly track, that we are equally prepared to give a good account of ourselves here,” he related.
Reflecting on the year 2024, Coley opined that the team’s performances were dependent on the bowlers. As such, he expressed hope that the batsmen would come to the party for 2025.
“The positive that stands out is that we’ve been very effective as a bowling unit, bowling out opposition teams in a number of different ways. Jaden back to full fitness; Shamar Joseph making his debut in 2024; Alzarri Joseph; Kemar Roach has been a standout in terms of his leadership on and off the field; and we’ve had Motie and Warrican being very consistent when given the opportunity to spin,” Coley detailed.
“There’ve been instances where we’ve had significant partnerships from a batting perspective, but they haven’t been really consistent and put ourselves in a position to have match- winning totals. From that standpoint, I think the standout has been the fact that we’ve been able to keep ourselves in Test matches on our bowling and what the young bowlers have done,” he further noted.
“It is time, going forward in 2025, that the batters now, having been given certain opportunities to test their skills, that they continue to learn and then now start to translate those into performances,” he declared.
The first Test between West Indies and Pakistan would be played in Multan from Friday January 17 to Tuesday January 21, while the second match begins on Saturday January 25 and ends on Wednesday January 29.
