Best in the world or clueless: Curtly Ambrose explains the similarities between Pakistan and West Indies
Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose feels that the upcoming series between the Windies and Pakistan will be a well-contested battle. According to Ambrose, both teams are unpredictable in nature, which could make for an interesting tussle.
Pakistan will play four T20Is in West Indies from July 28 to August 3, which will be followed by two Test matches in Jamaica. The T20I series was reduced from five to four games after the West Indies-Australia ODI series was rescheduled due to issues relating to COVID-19.
Speaking on The Curtly Karishma Show, Ambrose said that both Pakistan and West Indies can either blow hot or cold on a given day. He stated:
“Pakistan and West Indies are similar. They could blow real hot and look like the best in the world or they could be very cold and look like they don’t know what’s going on. There is hardly any middle ground. That is going to make the West Indies-Pakistan series very interesting. Who will blow hot for longer?"
Ambrose added:
"Babar Azam is a wonderful cricketer. I am looking forward to seeing him. I haven’t seen him live. Pakistan are a team that cannot be taken for granted. For the T20s, I am going to give West Indies the edge but they still have to play well to beat Pakistan. West Indies haven’t been playing all that well in Test cricket so let’s see how that goes.”
Big names in West Indies cricket are playing together after a long time: Curtly Ambrose
The West Indies recently featured in a limited-overs series against Australia. While they hammered the Aussies 4-1 in the T20Is, they went down 1-2 in the ODI series.
Ambrose was mighty impressed with West Indies’ performance against Australia. He opined that if the big players remain together, the side should do well in the T20 World Cup.
“It has been a number of years since we have had all our top players together at once. And when together, they are a real force to reckon with and hard to beat. West Indies won 4-1 against Australia in the T20Is, which was very impressive," said Ambrose.
"We have produced some of the greatest T20 players ever. We have Chris Gayle, who recently crossed 14,000 T20 runs. We have Andre Russell, DJ Bravo, Kieron Pollard - just to name a few. The West Indies are really geared towards the T20 World Cup. As long as our players remain together, they are going to be a force to reckon with in the T20 World Cup," added Ambrose.
The West Indies are the only side to have won the T20 World Cup more than once. They are also the defending champions in the event, having won the previous edition in 2016.