West Indies will want to revive their T20I image against Pakistan in second T20I © AFP
West Indies will want to revive their T20I image against Pakistan in second T20I © AFP

After suffering loss in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) by 9 wickets against Pakistan, West Indies will seek redemption in the second T20I to level the series. With collapse of batting, started the embarrassing defeat except for Dwayne Bravo’s grace saving fifty to help West Indies post total of 115. The bowlers did their part and tried getting wickets; however the total wasn’t enough to defend them from this disastrous defeat. The visitors will need to bounce back and bring their champion batting to stand out, in order to the level the three T20I series. This will be the moment for the champions to go all guns-blazing and build the excitement of T20I format.

There were not one but a total of nine players who were bundled out for single digits barring Bravo and Jerome Taylor adding double digit scores on board. But ultimately, nothing worked the trick against a strong bowling by hosts with the help of Imad Wasim’s fifer and Sohail Tanvir’s two wickets. There were some single wickets scalped by Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Ali to bring down the Caribbean’s. West Indies might go ahead with slight change and give chance to one of the two players who were benched out for the first T20I. He will also want to keep the experienced lot on the side who wrecked havoc against India at Florida. The only new debutant was Nicholas Pooran, coming with decent experience from Caribbean Premier League (CPL) building 217 runs in just 18 matches.

The skipper Carlos Brathwaite, was unable to produce any runs and was also unsuccessful with the ball, conceding 29 runs. Knowing that this could be a do-or-die situation for the Caribbean’s, Brathwaite might not want to tinker with squad. But bringing an extra pacer might boost the West Indies bowling unit and Kresick Williams might get his cap for the second T20I. Here are the possible XI that Brathwaite might play against Pakistan: ALSO READ: Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd T20I: Preview

Top-Order: On most occasions, West Indies batsmen have taken their side to biggest victories with a never ending batting line-up. However, against Pakistan the story was very different. The top three batsmen Johnson Charles, Ewin Lewis and Andre Fletcher are the crust of West Indies batting unit. Charles and Lewis have done a successful role as opening batsmen against India at Florida with their fifty and century in the first T20I against India. Being dismissed for score like seven and one respectively, was totally unexpected from the opening duo. This time they will want to change their game plan and put up a remarkable show.

Fletcher continued his poor show and in order to gain inspiration, the opening pair need to flare up their innings to provide the momentum down the order. Fletcher can go big when needed, but his poor run since his last innings of 84 in ICC T20 World Cup 2016, is surely a question mark of his place in the squad in the long run. ALSO READ: PAK vs WI, 2nd T20I: Likely XI for roaring hosts

Middle-Order: The middle players are the ones on whom the game can rely on completely, if the top batsmen fail to learn from the previous game. Surprisingly, their yet another crucial player Marlon Samuels was nowhere to close to his previous innings as witnessed against England in T20 World Cup 2016. Samuels also fell under the trap of Wasim and was gone for four runs producing just a single boundary.

Bravo was the stand out man in the series and once again he played his part with a fifty. Bravo has been the hero for West Indies in many matches with brief yet useful innings towards the end. No one can forget the wicket he grabbed of India skipper MS Dhoni and helped West Indies win the match by a run in the first T20I at Florida. In the absence of Russell, he played his part well and will want to capitalise on the same innings on to the next game as well.

T20I is a format that is made for a player like Kieron Pollard. He can either make or break the game. As for the first T20I against Pakistan, Pollard was nowhere close to what he can do in the middle. His struggling score of 9 off 17 deliveries was not what the Caribbean’s wanted. Pollard will have to get better with his game and produce quality runs with those sixers going beyond the stadium. ALSO READ: PAK vs WI, 1st T20I: Statistical highlights

As Pooran was not his best, the all-rounder Rovman Powell might get a call up. Against Emirates Cricket Board XI, Pooran and Powell had built a strong partnership for fifth wicket. They overcame a top-order wobble with a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket at a run rate of 10.40. Pooran does have a good run in Under-19 cricket, through which he came under spotlight. Powell, in contrast, was already part of West Indies A squad and had high expectation of making it to the national side soon.

Bowling: Samuel Badree played his part with a wicket in the first T20I since his return after T20 World Cup 2016. He bagged 21 wickets in that tournament and missed out his place in Indian Premier League (IPL) due to ankle injury. If he tries to double his figures, he might turn to be the hero for West Indies. Complimenting him with spin is Sunil Narine, who remained wicketless in the first game. He has picked six wickets in the tri-series that has not really helped him in the shortest-format. He will need to support Badree to rattle Pakistan’s batting unit. ALSO READ: PAK vs WI: Brathwaite blames poor execution by batsmen for loss

Brathwaite can be handy not just with bat with the ball as well. He was the one created history for the Caribbean’s who struck four sixers to claim the T20 World Cup title. As for the bowling, he does have support of Taylor and Pollard to boost him to get wickets. Taylor, who is back after a long haul, was also unlucky with the wickets. If West Indies need to win this game and level the series, the bowlers will need to help the batting unit.

West Indies Likely XI: Johnson Charles, Ewin Lewis, Andre Fletcher, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Kresick Williams, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine and Jerome Taylor.

(Shruti Hariharan is Content Writer with CricketCountry. You can follow her on Twitter at @Shruti_2890)