Pakistan’s eight-wicket victory over the West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval was about far more than levelling a two-match Test series. It was a reminder that, after nearly three years of repeated away defeats, Pakistan can still find a formula for winning on foreign soil.
The victory exposed both the strengths of a pragmatic approach under Babar Azam and the tactical mistakes of the hosts, while raising a bigger question: has Pakistan finally found a sustainable way to rebuild its Test cricket?
An eight-wicket victory over the West Indies not only levelled the two-match series 1-1 but also ended Pakistan’s run of eight consecutive away Test defeats. It was their first overseas Test victory since completing a 2-0 sweep of Sri Lanka in July 2023 under Babar Azam, the very captain the Pakistan Cricket Board had turned back to after 3 disappointing years in the World Test Championship.
The victory carried historical significance beyond Pakistan’s own revival. It also ensured that the West Indies’ wait for a home Test series victory over Pakistan stretched to 26 years, despite arriving at the second Test with momentum after winning the opener in Tarouba.
Four Years of Pakistan’s Test Decline
The momentum generated by the home series victory over South Africa and away series wins in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after Babar Azam took over the Test captaincy in 2021 gradually faded as Pakistan forgot how to win, suffering defeats against Australia, England and New Zealand across 2022 and 2023.
Babar stepped down as Test captain in November 2023, with Shan Masood taking over. Under Masood, Pakistan lost 12 of their 16 Tests and failed to win a single match away from home. Alongside the defeats came deeper structural problems.
Injuries to frontline fast bowlers, declining pace among senior seamers and inconsistent selection left Pakistan without the sustained penetration traditionally associated with their attack.
The PCB responded with sweeping reforms, introducing format-specific central contracts, recalling experienced seamers such as Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali, while also promoting younger quicks.
Babar’s return, therefore, felt less like a fresh beginning than a reunion born of necessity, a recognition that Pakistan needed stability before it could aspire to brilliance.
How Pakistan Won the Second Test?
Pakistan dropped their main pacer Muhammad Abbas due to the conditions at Port of Spain and played Sajid Khan as the 2nd spinner. West Indies scored 344 in the first inning.
Former cricketer Rashid Latif, while analysing the match, considered dropping Abbas a mistake.
“West Indies could have been defeated by an inning. Abbas would have taken wickets on day 1. Young Ubaid Shah leaked runs, and pressure could not be created.” Latif said.
Abdullah Shafique, included in the side as Shan Masood’s replacement, transformed Pakistan’s first innings with an unbeaten 160. Under the current Pakistan captain, he averages 58.50; when Babar wasn’t leading, that number dropped down to 20.52 across ten Tests.
Babar Azam complemented that effort with a composed 88, continuing a familiar trend: He averages 53.33 as captain; in the 13 Tests between his captaincy stints, that number was cut by half, to 27.26.
Instead of another batting collapse, Pakistan posted 387, their highest total of the series, giving their bowlers a platform they never truly relinquished.
Sajid Khan immediately justified his recall with match figures of 8 for 117, while Ali Usman collected six wickets across the match and wrapped up the West Indies’ resistance on the fourth morning when they were all out on 117.
The chase of 75 was almost an afterthought.
Although Pakistan briefly stumbled to 17 for 2, Abdullah Shafique and Babar calmly erased any remaining doubts before the captain finished the match emphatically, launching Jomel Warrican for successive sixes that perfectly contrasted the restraint he had shown throughout the previous three days.
Did the West Indies Hand Pakistan An Advantage?
Pakistan deserved full credit for exploiting the conditions, but the hosts also invited trouble through questionable tactical decisions.
Having watched Pakistan’s pace bowlers claim all 20 wickets in the first Test, the West Indies surprisingly prepared a surface that increasingly favoured spin while selecting only one specialist spinner, Jomel Warrican.
It was a curious mismatch between pitch preparation and team selection. Cricket analyst Dr Nauman Niaz described it as a costly mistake.
“The West Indies were caught in their own net. Why did they prepare a spin track when they had no spinner to partner with Warrican? Pakistan made a similar mistake against the West Indies in Multan last year.”
Pakistan’s two-spinner attack comfortably outbowled the home side’s lone specialist, while the deteriorating surface only increased the pressure on the West Indies’ batters.
Can Pragmatism Rebuild Pakistan?
Babar Azam has rarely been viewed as an adventurous Test captain. His critics have questioned conservative field settings, reactive bowling changes and an apparent reluctance to gamble. Yet the numbers increasingly suggest a different story.
During his first stint, Pakistan won away series in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, defeated South Africa at home and drew series vs New Zealand and the West Indies. Under his leadership, Pakistan generally beat teams they were expected to beat.
That may sound like faint praise, but the last three years have demonstrated how difficult even those victories had become.
In the 2nd test vs West Indies, rather than chasing unlikely miracles after the first-Test defeat, Pakistan focused on the attainable. They selected bowlers suited to the conditions, trusted their stronger batting line-up to outscore the opposition and repeatedly attacked obvious weaknesses.
The challenge in the next series vs England will be considerably greater. One victory does not erase four years of decline.
But it does provide something Pakistan had almost forgotten how to manufacture away from home: momentum.
Whether Babar’s second tenure ultimately succeeds will depend less on isolated triumphs than on whether this disciplined, pragmatic approach can survive against stronger opposition.
