West Indies arrive in Pakistan for white-ball series

The West Indies cricket team arrived in Pakistan on December 9 for a visit which local officials in Pakistan hope would scotch bitter memories of a New Zealand tour abandoned on security grounds.

West Indies will play three T20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals, all in the port city of Karachi, starting on Monday December 13. This is their first visit since 2018.

A Pakistan official has said a 26-member party had flown in to Karachi early Thursday, before being escorted by heavy security to the team hotel.
The series comes three months after New Zealand quit its first tour to the country in 18 years, following a security alert shortly before the opening match. That was followed by England’s decision to withdraw visits by its men’s and women’s teams scheduled for October.
Pakistan officials have been furious with the cancellations, arguing security measures were lock-tight. The cricket-mad nation endured a long spell without a visit from an international team, following a terror attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009.
Pakistan had been forced to play its home international matches abroad – mostly in the United Arab Emirates – until 2015, when normal service tentatively resumed.
This West Indies squad is somewhat understrength, with regulars Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons opting out of the tour for personal reasons. Former skipper Jason Holder is being rested, while Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy are out because of injuries.
Last week, Captain Kieron Pollard also withdrew from the competition because of a hamstring injury, leaving the Twenty20 leadership to Nicholas Pooran and the ODIs to Shai Hope.
Four players: Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes and Odean Smith, have joined the team later on December 9. The three T20Is are on December 13, 14 and 16, while the ODIs will be on December 18, 20 and 22.
Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have said the cricketers would quarantine at the hotel until their coronavirus tests return negative.