West Indies v Pakistan ODI Series set to begin

In the midst of the Ashes, this limited overs series is likely to be overlooked quite easily, and considering the series was originally supposed to include test matches, I can understand its neglect in the cricketing world. Nonetheless the Cricket World Cup is only 19 months away and ODI matches are going to become key for that preparation.

West Indies will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to their tri-series with Sri Lanka and winners India. They won their first two matches before losing the next two to miss the final. Before that they missed out on the semi-finals for the Champions Trophy, despite some close matches. The West Indies defeated Zimbabwe earlier in the year but a 5-0 smashing to Australia in February, and a 3-2 series loss to Bangladesh late last year has meant they have had a disappointing time of it in ODI cricket. All of this is on the back of their World Twenty20 which led many people to believe a resurgence in West Indies cricket was happening.

Pakistan meanwhile have just finished a disappointing European tour where they were comprehensively outplayed in the Champions Trophy. Before that they only just beat a determined Irish side 1-0 (including a tied match) as well as beating Scotland 1-0. Before that though they just loss against South Africa 3-2, and beat India 2-1 late last year. They will be hoping to bring some back some of that form against the West Indies in this series.

These sides are ranked 6 and 7, although there is an 11 disparity with Pakistan on 101 and West Indies on 90. Pakistan will be looking to gain some ground on Sri Lanka who are 5th on 108, while the West Indies will want to give themselves some breathing space from New Zealand who are only one point adrift in 8th.

The West Indies did defeat Pakistan in the Champions Trophy by 2 wickets so they will take some confidence from that going into the series. They've only played one bilateral series against each other in the last four years and that was after the Cricket World Cup in 2011. Despite West Indies being the hosts Pakistan prevailed 3-2, which they will hoping to do again this time.

I think this will be a closely fought series as both sides are evenly matched. They are also both severely inconsistent as evident by their recent results I mentioned above, and therefore I think it will be the team to show the most consistency both in matches and over the whole series who will win.

Squads
West Indies (ODI #1 and #2): Dwayne Bravo (c), T.Best, Darren Bravo, J.Charles, C.Gayle, J.Holder, S.Narine, K.Pollard, K.Roach, D.Sammy, M.Samuels, L.Simmons, D.Smith
Pakistan: M.ul-Haq (c), A.Rehman, A.Shehzad, A.Ali, A.Shafiq, H.Sohail, J.Khan, M.Hafeez, M.Irfan, M.Rizwan, N.Jamshed, S.Ajmal, S.Afridi, U.Akmal, U.Amin, W.Riaz

Fixtures
ODI #1: 14th July @ Providence Stadium, Guyana

ODI #2: 16th July @ Providence Stadium, Guyana

ODI #3: 19th July @ Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia

ODI #4: 21st July @ Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia

ODI #5: 24th July @ Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia