Pakistan crashed to a humiliating 202-run defeat to hosts West Indies at Tarouba as they went down 2-1 in the ODI series. While there were a lot of positives for West Indies from this series, a lot to think about for Pakistan as they lost yet another ODI in 2025. In 9 games, they have only won one game and lost 7 this year. Pakistan have a lot of problems to address and we will list out three main reasons for their embarrassing loss to West Indies.
Batting Crumbling Under Pressure for 92 Hurts Pakistan
The main reason for their loss against West Indies was their batting effort. The batting as a whole faltered as they were bundled out for their 4th lowest score against West Indies. They were bundled out for 92 inside 30 overs with no one getting going. Jayden Seales bowled well and was too hot to handle, but there was lack of application from Pakistan.
The top order was blown away by the Seales thunder as Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, and captain Mohammad Rizwan fell for ducks while Babar Azam managed 9 off 23 balls. They were 23/4 in 8.2 overs in the chase of 295 and the match was as good as over then. There was some resistance shown by the middle order batters like Salman Ali Agha, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Nawaz who remained unbeaten till the end. But that was not enough as Pakistan were skittled out for 92 to face a heavy defeat.
Going forward, Pakistan needs to fix their batting as such performances will not be acceptable at the international level and even coach Mike Hesson will not approve of this performance. They need to get it right and senior players need to start performing. We all expected some fight from Pakistan, but what we got was meek surrender. Yes, 294 was above par maybe but some fight shown would have helped everyone. But it turned out to be a one-sided game.
Death Bowling Woes Hurts Pakistan Badly
Pakistan began well with the ball as they got early wickets and kept things tight. The spinners kept a check on West Indies scoring rate and the West Indies also went with the approach of keeping wickets in hand. After 40 overs of the first innings, the match was in the balance at 175/4 for the West Indies. What followed next was absolute carnage.
West Indies did lose Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie in the death overs, but Shai Hope was well settled and in the mood and he took the attack to the opposition and was ably supported by Justin Greaves who played a blinder as well. Pakistan crumbled under pressure here as well in the death as some freebies and length balls were dished out. West Indies managed to score 119/2 in the last 10 overs and got to this score. This was not only above par but made sure that the momentum was with West Indies at the interval and that is a key thing in ODIs.
Pakistan are known for its bowling and getting it right more often than not at the death. But on this occasion, they missed their lines and lengths. Yes, they might have missed Shaheen Afridi but he was dropped by Pakistan by choice as he was not injured. He played the first two matches and was rested as per workload management. But the other bowlers who played should have stepped up and they didn’t. Going forward, whenever they play ODIs, Pakistan would like to get things right with ball at the death so that they are not chasing a huge total.
Naseem Shah’s Mixed Day Hurts Pakistan
Naseem Shah had a mixed outing with ball in hand. He played the first game and looked in great rhythm as he picked up 3 wickets there but was dropped due to workload management for the second game. It’s never easy being in and out of the side and for Naseem he was coming in place of Shaheen Shah Afridi who bowls well with the new ball and death. So, that was the role expected off Naseem. While Naseem started off well and picked up wickets to keep things tight, he fell away at the backend.
Naseem Shah was replacing Shaheen Afridi and how he fared in taking wickets and especially at the death would matter. He managed to take a couple of wickets and keep things relatively tight. But when the death overs came, Naseem could not find the right lines and lengths and was hammered by Hope and Greaves. He just couldn’t hit the target and went for 21 runs in his final over that he bowled and finished with 2/72 in 10 overs. The death overs really spoilt his figures.
Naseem is young in age, but not new to international cricket. An area he needs to work on going forward and to be a successful bowler is bowling in the death overs especially in ODIs. He has mastered playing T20Is but in ODIs, he needs to work on how to execute yorkers and what type of deliveries are to be bowled at the death. He can do it as he is a quick learner, and one hopes he returns a better bowler because he might be required to bowl at the death more often than not.
What Lies Ahead
The West Indies vs Pakistan series is over with the hosts taking the ODI leg 2-1 after the visitors won the T20I leg by 2-1. West Indies will have a breather in International Cricket as the players will participate in CPL 2025 starting on 15th August at St. Kitts. Pakistan, on the other hand, will play a Tri-Series T20 version with Afghanistan and UAE in UAE as a preparation for T20 Asia Cup 2025 to be held in September. Both teams will play the shorter formats now.
So, a lot to look forward to for both teams going ahead and how they fare in the shorter formats of the game will be interesting to see. Lots of cricketing actions happening across the world for readers and viewers to be tuned into it.
Also Read: WI vs PAK: 3 Reasons for Pakistan’s Humiliating Defeat In 2nd ODI