DUBAI: Pakistan Captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and chose to bat on a flat Dubai surface in the second ever day-night Test, which was also Pakistan’s 400th.
Pakistan handed debuts to Babar Azam and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. Azam slotted into the XI in place of Younis Khan, who had been advised rest to recover from dengue. Asad Shafiq was to move up the order to No 3.
West Indies, meanwhile, selected the same XI that had been named for the washed-out Trinidad Test against India. Both teams, therefore, opted for two frontline spinners on a track that was expected to take increasing amounts of turn with time.
Squads:
Pakistan: 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah ul Haq (capt), 5 Babar Azam, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Sohail Khan
West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Leon Johnson, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Shane Dowrich (wk), 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Miguel Cummins, 11 Shannon Gabriel