Skipper Babar Azam hopes to carry momentum against West Indies

Karachi: Captain Babar Azam hopes to keep Pakistan’s winning momentum going against a virus-hit West Indies in the limited-overs series, starting Monday.

Three West Indies players -- left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell, all-rounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers -- have tested positive for coronavirus in Karachi and were ruled out of the Twenty20 series. They will be in isolation for 10 days in Karachi and will be monitored by the team physician until they return negative tests.

West Indies Twenty20 squad already miss several top performers for the three-match Twenty20 series which will be followed by three ODIs -- also at Karachi. The notable absentees include white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard, who will miss out due to hamstring injury he sustained during the T20 World Cup, while Andre Russell is playing in the Big Bash League in Australia.

“We will try to carry the momentum which started in the (T20) World Cup,” Babar told reporters during a video conference on Sunday. “We are not going to take them (West Indies) easy because they didn’t bring their best players. They have played in the CPL (Caribbean Premier League) and international games, so you have to give your 100 per cent to beat them.