Pakistan’s second stint of the Babar Azam captaincy era began with an emphatic statement. In Port of Spain, Pakistan beat West Indies by eight wickets in the second Test to level the series 1-1, a result built on Abdullah Shafique’s unbeaten 160 and two clinical bowling performances from off-spinner Sajid Khan and left-arm quick-turn specialist Ali Usman. The match, played from August 2 to 5, 2026, at the Queen’s Park Oval, marked Pakistan’s first away Test win in three years, ending a barren run that had defined the previous captaincy tenure.
A Series That Would Not Break the Pattern
West Indies had won the opening Test at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba by 90 runs, riding home advantage and disciplined seam bowling to put Pakistan 0-1 down inside a two-match series. That result meant the tourists arrived in Port of Spain needing a win simply to draw level, and for a team that had lost its way in the format over the previous three years, the pressure was real. The 1-1 scoreline that followed was, remarkably, the third consecutive series between these two sides to finish level, a statistical quirk that has become something of a running theme in Pakistan-West Indies Test cricket since 2021.
Shafique Anchors a Long First Innings
Batting first after West Indies posted 344, built around half-centuries from Justin Greaves (73) and Roston Chase (70), Pakistan responded with 387, a total that owed almost everything to Shafique’s unbeaten 160. The 25-year-old opener batted through the middle order collapses around him, finding support from captain Babar Azam, who contributed 88 in a partnership that steadied the innings after early jitters. Shafique’s innings, patient in the first half and increasingly fluent against the second new ball, was later recognized with the match’s Player of the Match award. It was his third Test hundred and by some distance his most valuable, given the context of a series decider and a dressing room short on recent overseas success.
Sajid Khan and Ali Usman Turn the Match
The difference between the two innings, however, was spin. Sajid Khan took 4 for 85 in West Indies’ first innings before returning with 4 for 32 in the second, exploiting variable bounce that developed on the Queen’s Park Oval surface as the match progressed. Ali Usman, playing what was still an early stage of his Test career, took 4 for 39 in the second innings and was credited with polishing off the West Indian lower order inside half an hour on the fourth morning, leaving Pakistan a modest chase of 78 that they completed for the loss of two wickets. The identity of the match, then, was set by spin bowling on a pitch many had expected to favor the quicker bowlers, a detail that will not be lost on Pakistan’s selectors as they turn attention to English conditions later in the month.
Ending a Difficult Chapter
Shan Masood’s near three-year tenure as Test captain ended with 12 defeats from 16 matches, a period widely regarded inside Pakistan cricket as one of the most difficult in the format’s modern history for the team. Babar Azam’s reappointment, confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board selection committee at a press conference in Lahore before the tour, was framed by board officials as a reset rather than a permanent long-term solution, with Babar himself having stepped down from the same job in late 2023 following a difficult white-ball World Cup campaign. His return, then, carries an unusual weight: a captain given a second chance in the format, tasked with proving that the version of Pakistan Test cricket which struggled so badly under his predecessor was not a structural problem but a temporary one.
Perspectives From Both Camps
West Indies coach and team management, while disappointed to surrender a series lead, pointed to the competitiveness of both matches as evidence their rebuilding project under a young core including Greaves and Chase is bearing fruit, even in defeat. From the Pakistan side, the mood was more pointed: several team management figures were quoted framing the win as proof that the squad’s fundamentals were never as broken as recent results suggested, and that installing experienced leadership was enough to unlock performances that had been missing for years. Both views can be true simultaneously, and the series scoreline, a repeat 1-1 draw for a third straight encounter, suggests a genuine parity between the sides that transcends any single captaincy change.
What Comes Next
Pakistan now travel directly into a three-Test series in England beginning August 19 at Headingley, followed by Lord’s from August 27 and Edgbaston from September 9-13, all forming part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. The pressure on Babar Azam will only intensify: English conditions, a Joe Root-led home side beginning its own new captaincy era, and a compressed turnaround from the Caribbean will test whether the spin-driven blueprint that worked in Trinidad can translate into swing-friendly conditions. For West Indies, attention turns to squad depth beyond Greaves and Chase, with selectors expected to assess several fringe batters ahead of their next assignment. Neither side leaves the Caribbean with all its questions answered, but Pakistan, at least, leaves with the one thing it lacked entering the tour: a Test win on the road.