Will Pakistan experiment or play serious?

It has been less than a month since Pakistan inflicted a crushing defeat on the West Indies when the touring team lost all 10 wickets for a mere score of 113 on the board and on the other hand failing to strike even a single time. Of course, even England lost the match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets despite England putting up a total in excess of 200 in the quarter finals. May be, had the West Indies scored above 200, a Pakistani wicket would have made it to the score card. That was just another loss for West Indies and nothing more.

With that apart, news and schedule has it that Pakistan is set to tour West Indies or are already in the country that is facing a lot of trouble in cricket. No prices for guessing the result of the series for even a kid can claim that West Indies are set to lose the series or worst come, may end the tournament without even a single win in both test as well as one day cricket. Couple of days back, news had its say that Gayle may be unavailable for the series, with the current West Indian squad speaking otherwise.

One can see the names of Chanderapaul and Sarwan along with Gayle. In addition to the presence of Chris Gayle and co, one can expect the return of Marlon Samuels for people who are familiar with the name and a chance for people who don't to get to know who this average cricketer is. Since Samuels is not some Mohammed Asif or Shane Warne, his return would hardly bother anyone-not even the WICB. But, the million dollar question is whether Pakistan will go ahead with a full fledged team to face the enemy or will they experiment with their players?

Had I been the Pakistani selector, I would have rested some or most of the key players from the tour though the series is away from home. Teams like Zimbabwe and West Indies (but rarely Bangladesh) can prove to be of some use to viewers only when key players and inform players take a break. Than, one can see a balanced match wherein both teams fight it out on the field. I remember Dhoni resting Schin Tendulkar in one of the games to see how things work with the absence of a star player. That was the reason for Australia to dominate the world cricket for so many years.