Afridi likely to bat down the order - Inzamam

Inzamam-ul-Haq has hinted that Shahid Afridi may bat down the order in the second Test at Kingston as Pakistan attempt to bounce back from a heavy defeat in the first Test at Barbados. Inzamam, who missed the first Test as he was serving a suspension, added that there will be two changes to the side with him and Shoaib Malik returning to the fray.

"Afridi will bat as per the requirement of the team but most probably down the order in the Kingston Test," Inzamam was quoted as saying in The News, a Pakistan-based daily. "He scored a hundred batting at No. 5 [sic]." Afridi had been involved in a dressing-room altercation during the first Test, along Younis Khan, the captain for the game, when he showed his displeasure at being asked to open the batting in Pakistan's first innings. Inzamam then joined in the argument and supposedly exchanged heated words with Younis before the other players intervened. Afridi batted at No. 6 in the second innings of the game and hammered a blistering hundred but his record is much better when he has opened the innings, when he averages 37.16 and has set the tempo for many a Pakistan charge.

Inzamam added that the team failed to adjust themselves for the first Test, after whitewashing West Indies in the one-dayers, but felt that his players were capable of squaring the series. "Our batting flopped in the first innings of the Barbados Test," he said, "and that made the difference in the end."

Inzamam added that the team would miss the experience of Yousuf Youhana, who decided to return home after his father was diagnosed with a kidney ailment, but added that it provided a chance for other players to show their worth. While criticising his batsmen for playing some loose shots in the first Test, when they collapsed for 144 in the first innings, Inzamam said spending more time at the crease would be crucial.

The home team are facing a few injury problems as well. After the injury to Fidel Edwards, Bennett King, the West Indies coach, informed that Dwayne Bravo has failed to recover fully from his ankle injury and was unlikely to play the second Test.

"Dwayne's struggling at the moment," King was quoted by The Trinidad Express. "Again, we're gonna look in the morning. But at this stage, we're not very hopeful. But he's done everything that we've asked of him and worked really hard. He's been getting two to three sessions daily. He's done everything in his power to try and make things work."

King also insisted that West Indies would try to end their season on a high note. "We go out there to win every game ... and we're not going to change our strategy," King continued. "You don't believe that we've got the quality but I think we do. It's a shame that you say things like that because what it indicates to me is that you don't trust us.

"But for me, certainly, I certainly go out there having put full faith in the players knowing that the side that we put out on the field is the best West Indies has got and also that it gives us the best chance of winning every match."