LAHORE: T20 skipper Sarfraz Ahmed sounded confident about his team’s show against the West Indies in the three-match series on the eve of Pakistan T20 squad’s departure for the UAE.

Sarfraz and his men, barring paceman Mohammad Amir who will tie the knot early next week, were scheduled to leave for the UAE in the wee hours from here on Sunday.

They will play a three-match series against the Carlos Brathwaite-led West Indies, the current world T20 champions, from Sept 23 to 27.

Left-armer Amir was expected to join the squad before the start of the T20 series, after his marriage in Lahore, a PCB spokesman said.

It will be Pakistan’s first T20 rubber against the West Indies in the UAE, which has become the home venue for Pakistan since March 2009 after the terror attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

In all, Pakistan have played four T20s against the West Indies so far, winning two and losing two.

In a brief chat with Dawn, Sarfraz said his team would try to play with full potential against the West Indies who won the world title in India earlier this year, beating England in a thrilling final.

“Though the UAE is not Pakistan’s [original] home, my team-mates are familiar with the conditions there. [Therefore] we will try to take full advantage of the venues,” Sarfraz said.

“The victory against England in the one-off T20 at Manchester will act as a morale booster for us.”

Pakistan ended the England tour on a positive note as the Sarfraz-led team outclassed England in the one-off T20 by nine wickets at Old Trafford. Earlier, the Azhar Ali-captained ODI side were drubbed 1-4 in the five-match series to Eoin Morgan’s men.

Meanwhile, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, who was hired for the limited-overs leg of the England tour, will not be the part of the team management in the UAE.

A PCB spokesman said ex-Test all-rounder Azhar was hired only for the England tour, adding currently no bowling coach was accompanying the team.

However, he said, the PCB wanted to hire a long-term bowling coach and negotiations in this regard with some suitable candidates, including Azhar, were in progress.

According to the spokesman, left-arm pacer Amir hopefully would join the team before the start of the T20 series in the UAE.

Ex-Test wicket-keeper Wasim Bari, the former chief selector, will accompany the team for the first time as manager.

In the past he also held positions of PCB chief operating officer, director human resources and head of players education programme.

Published in Dawn September 18th, 2016