Babar Azam Ends Pakistan's Test Drought

Why did dropping Mohammad Abbas for a spinner work?

Babar read Queen's Park Oval as a wearing, fifth-day pitch that behaves like conditions back home, so he picked an extra spinner over pace specialist Mohammad Abbas. It worked instantly: Sajid Khan and Ali Usman shared eight wickets as West Indies were bowled out for 117, chasing just 75. Babar said the pitch "looked more similar to how they are in Pakistan."

Why does this pitch favour spin late on?

The Queen's Park Oval pitch is dry and flattens out as a Test progresses. Early on batsmen dominate with scores of 250-plus common, but by days four and five the surface offers turn and bounce, making spin attacks "very dangerous" in the closing innings, exactly when Pakistan's spinners ran through West Indies for 117.

Did the opposition agree with the gamble?

West Indies captain Roston Chase effectively conceded Pakistan's read was right, saying after the loss, "We could have probably gone in with an extra spinner." His side instead stuck with a more pace-heavy attack and lost the second innings battle on the same wearing surface Pakistan had targeted.

Is this now Pakistan's pattern away from home?

It is becoming one. Pakistan's spinners had already exploited a wearing Queen's Park Oval wicket in this series to keep the West Indies winless in a series since 2000, and Babar explicitly framed the second Test selection as reading conditions like home pitches, suggesting future overseas tours may see similar spin-heavy gambles when pitches wear down.

Could Brandon King's injury have cost West Indies the Test?

West Indies were already collapsing before King's back injury mattered: bowled out for 117 in the first innings and then losing their last recognized batters cheaply in the second, chasing a target Pakistan never even had to defend hard. King, hurt fielding on Day 3, missed batting in the second innings, but the side was 8 down with only tailenders left when the innings folded, so his absence looks incidental to a defeat built by Sajid Khan and Ali Usman's 8-wicket haul in the first innings.

How did King get injured on Day 3?

King was hurt fielding, not batting. He sustained the back injury while making a spectacular direct-hit run out from short covers that dismissed Babar Azam during Pakistan's chase, before Babar returned to finish the match unbeaten on 24.

How badly did West Indies collapse without him?

West Indies were bowled out for 117 in their second innings, with Sajid Khan taking 4-32 and Ali Usman 4-39, sharing eight wickets between them. Resuming on 106-3, the tail fell quickly once Usman removed Kemar Roach and Shamar Joseph, leaving Greaves as the last recognized batter before he was bowled by Mohammad Ali.

What does the loss mean for Roston Chase's captaincy?

Chase himself pointed to selection, not survival: "we could have probably gone in with an extra spinner," he said, echoing Pakistan's own tactical switch that won them the match. He framed the 1-1 series as part of improvement, not crisis, saying the team is "going into the direction that I want us to go" despite missing the 2-0 home fortress target.

Why did the extra-spinner gamble matter so much?

Queen's Park Oval's pitch turns and bounces more as a Test wears on, with spin especially dangerous on days four and five. Pakistan read this and picked an extra spinner over in-form pacer Mohammad Abbas; the same tactic Chase admitted he lacked cost West Indies eight second-innings wickets to Sajid Khan and Ali Usman as they were bowled out for 117.

What pressure did Babar face before this win?

Babar was reappointed Test captain in July 2026 after Shan Masood lost 12 of 16 Tests, with selector Aaqib Javed citing leadership failures, not form. PCB promised Babar a two-to-three-year run without judgement. This West Indies series was his first test of that mandate, and it opened with a first-Test loss before the turnaround.