After an exciting T20 series in Florida between the two sides, the bandwagon moves to the Caribbean. The Brian Lara Cricket Academy Ground will be the venue for all three ODIs to be played between West Indies and Pakistan. The first match is slated to take place on August 8th, 2025. Both teams have struggled in the 50-over format in the recent past and would like to bounce back and be desperate to win the series. West Indies needs it more as they are ranked 10th in the points table, Pakistan are much higher than them.
The T20I series ended in favour of Pakistan as they won the series 2-1. They will be confident of doing well and will start as favourites. West Indies may have had a good ODI home record lately, but their recent form across formats has been a big worry. They will be desperate to prove a point and come back stronger in this series. Pakistan have got their A-squad ready and with Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam back in the side, they will be desperate to prove a point and may well start this series as favourites.
Overview of the Series
Pakistan come into this series on the back of a 2-1 series win in the T20Is and will be confident of doing well in this series. Their side will be led by Mohammad Rizwan. In the batting department, all eyes will be on Saim Ayub who was in decent form in the T20Is and will likely open the batting in the ODI series as well. Ayub has the capability of giving the team quick starts and with Fakhar Zaman ruled out of the series due to injury, much will depend on middle-order to come good like Babar Azam and Salman Ali Agha. However, Babar has been out of form lately and will be aiming to prove his critics wrong.
The bowling department of Pakistan looks strong with pacers like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf capable of making the new ball talk. The spin bowlers like Mohammad Nawaz and Sufiyan Muqeem look strong and potent as well. However, Pakistan were whitewashed in the last ODI series they played which was against New Zealand in New Zealand in April 2025.
West Indies, on the other hand, might have broken the streak of losses in T20Is by winning the second T20I game against Pakistan, but they still lost the series. The team has good players but overall doesn’t look as strong, at least on paper as Pakistan. Like their opponents, West Indies were also whitewashed in their last ODI series. The team lost to England in England by 3-0 in June 2025 while even against Ireland, they couldn’t win the series and drew it 1-1.
The team will most likely open with Brandon King and Evin Lewis. The right-hand-left-hand combination is likely to work well for the West Indies. However, both of them didn’t have a great outing in the England series. The middle-order will be heavily dependent on players like skipper Shai Hope, youngster Keacy Carty and hard-hitter Sherfane Rutherford. Apart from them, the team will look up to their all-rounders like Roston Chase and Romario Shepherd to contribute with the bat as well.
West Indies looks the strongest in the pace department as Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales and Jediah Blades have the potential to run through the Pakistan’s batting if they get some help from the surface. Shamar Joseph showed his potential in the last month’s Test series against Australia where he troubled the famed Australian batting line-up. Spin options like Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase will be quite handy as well.
All in all, an interesting series will be on the cards and could be a close and exciting one as well. The series could go either way with Pakistan might start as early favourites.
Pitch & Weather Conditions for 1st ODI
In general, the pitch at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba is expected to favour the bowlers. As far as batters are concerned, they will need to apply themselves and score accordingly. Pacers will get a bit of help from the track with the new ball. Meanwhile, the spinners can also influence the game in the middle overs. Only one ODI has been played here, with India beating West Indies by 200 runs as the Indian pacers enjoyed 8 wickets in that contest.
According to the weather forecast, the weather in Tarouba is likely to remain overcast with a bit of sun in between throughout the day. One can expect some rain to interrupt play. This is a day-night game. Expect rain to delay proceedings, but a total washout may not happen as we may get passing showers. Let’s hope that the rain stays away and we get a full game of cricket.
Head-To-Head
West Indies and Pakistan have faced each other in a total of 137 matches in their cricketing history. West Indies have won 71 off those matches while Pakistan have won 63 off those matches. 3 matches between the sides have ended in a Tie and there has been no No Result between the teams yet. The first-ever meeting took place in the Prudential World Cup on June 11, 1975 where West Indies edged out Pakistan by one wicket. Their latest meeting was on June 12th 2022 when Pakistan beat West Indies by 53 runs under the DLS method.
Predicted/Probable XIs of both sides
Here, we will try and predict the probable XIs of both sides. Whether it matches with the final XI that goes out into the park remains to be seen.
West Indies Probable XI: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (c/wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales, Jediah Blades.
Pakistan Probable XI: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c/wk), Salman Ali Agha, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Key Stats Ahead of This Fixture
- West Indies are aiming for a fourth successive series win on home soil. Their streak started by beating England 2-1 in 2023 and they repeated the feat against the same opponents in 2024. They followed that up by beating Bangladesh 3-0 in 2024.
- Pakistan have won three out of the last 4 bilateral ODI series, but they lost to New Zealand 3-0 in April 2025.
- Babar Azam averages a stellar 79.66 against West Indies in ODIs as he has scored 717 runs from 10 matches while his overall average is 52.17.
- Gudakesh Motie has taken 34 wickets at 30.88 in 28 ODIs and has two four fers under his belt.
- Matthew Forde has taken 17 wickets from 13 ODIs at an average of 32.41
- Shaheen Afridi has taken 127 wickets from 64 matches at an average of 24.37.
Possible Outcome of the Match
It’s hard to predict what the possible outcome of the match will be as both teams have their strengths and weaknesses. The teams are relatively matched and both Pakistan and West Indies are coming off series losses in the ODI format. Adding to the complexity is that there has been only One ODI that has been played at this venue. Taking everything into consideration and the recent form, we reckon Pakistan will start as favourites.
Since, Pakistan won the T20I series, we have a feeling they will continue the momentum in this ODI series and with big guns back for them, they will fancy their chances. West Indies also has a good team and with a great home record in ODIs in their last 3 series, they may well surprise Pakistan. Their bowling looks decent. All in all, we expect a tough series but Pakistan will most likely come out on top and may well win the series 2-1.
Also Read:Â WI vs PAK: West Indies Announce ODI Squad With ODI WC 2027 On Line