MULTAN: After whitewashing Netherlands in the cool Amstelveen weather, the West Indies squad will have less than two days to acclimatise to twice as hot temperatures as they arri­v­ed here on Monday to play a three-match One-day Inte­r­n­a­tional series against Pakistan.

On the other hand, the hosts have undergone a four-day training camp in Lahore before arriving to Multan on Sunday and conducting another practice session.

It could have been a bit easier for the Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies had the series been held in Rawal­pindi, where it was scheduled to take place before the ongoing political crisis in the country forced the Pakistan Cricket Board to change the venue.

The visitors will hold their only practice session on Tuesday.

While playing at the Multan Cricket Stadium cou­ld pose a reasonable challenge to the Carribean side, for the city’s cricket fans, the first ODI on Wednesday will be an occasion to celebrate as the venue hosts its first international match after 14 long years.

The Multan crowd respo­nded with zeal when few matches of the Pakistan Super League were held there in 2020.

In the upcoming series, which will be played as a part of the ICC World Cup Super League, the fans will expect Pakistan to carry on from whe­re they left when they beat Australia 2-1 in their previous ODI series.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was instrumental in the home triumph against the Australians, scoring consecutive centuries in the second and third ODIs. Opener Imam-ul-Haq achieved the same feat with his first hundred coming in losing cause in the first game.

Pakistan and West Indies have been played 134 one-dayers against each other of which the former has won 60 while the latter has managed wins in 71 games.

In their recent media talks, Babar and Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq have expressed their ambition of winning all three matches.

Published in Dawn,June 7th, 2022