Eight consecutive away defeats. Four losses in five ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle matches. And Shan Masood — the one batter who walked away from the 90-run first Test defeat with real credit, having battled through a broken finger to score a seventh Test century and still walk out at No. 8 in the second innings, virtually one-handed — not even available. The odds seem stacked against Pakistan as they take the field on Sunday for the second Test against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.

But, as is so often the case in sport, adversity is also opportunity.

This is a young, relatively inexperienced and win-shy Pakistan side, and the coming five days offer it a genuine chance to step up, absorb an additional blow, and turn the tables. Should they manage it with a gritty, determined and professional performance, their stock will rise sharply — not simply because they would have squared the series and ended a losing run, but because of exactly the circumstances in which they would have done it.

Port of Spain, then, is a test of this side’s character, potential and pride, and the players will know it. The next five days will show how motivated, committed and passionate this group is about an unmistakably uphill task. Heroes, after all, are only made by the hardest assignments — and this may be Pakistan’s best recent opportunity to win back the trust of supporters who have slowly, and understandably, begun turning away.

Since the defeat at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, the team has been under severe scrutiny.

Captain Babar Azam has faced criticism for over-exposing the tail-enders even after the match was effectively decided; the bowling attack has been questioned for allowing West Indies’ last three wickets to add 88 runs in the second innings, despite bowling the hosts out twice; and senior middle-order pair Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha have been criticised for both their approach and their dismissals.

While Babar and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed will need to address those cricketing questions, they must also settle on a line-up. Beyond Shan’s enforced absence, question marks over Aamir Jamal’s all-round output and left-arm spinner Ali Usman’s underwhelming debut leave selectors with a genuine headache — against a West Indies side with its tail up, sensing a first series win over Pakistan since Jimmy Adams’ team beat Moin Khan’s Pakistan 1-0 on home soil in 2000.

One thing Pakistan did get right in the first Test was the balance of the side: five specialist batters, a wicketkeeper-batter, a bowling all-rounder and four specialist bowlers. As the saying goes, don’t fix what isn’t broken — and with no obvious panic in the camp, there’s little reason to abandon that template now.

Which brings the conversation to personnel. Shan’s absence forces one change. Aamir Jamal and Ali Usman, after underwhelming performances, are the two others whose places carry the most doubt.

On Shan’s replacement, cricketing logic points towards the uncapped Awais Zafar. He was picked as a specialist middle-order batter specifically because Saud Shakeel’s inclusion was conditional on proving his fitness in time for the England leg. Quite how Saud became fit ahead of schedule remains something of a mystery — whether this amounts to a premature recall before he has regained full fitness is a question only the PCB’s medical panel can answer.

Abdullah Shafique, for his part, wasn’t part of the original 16-man squad and was added only as injury cover. If he wasn’t considered good enough for the touring party in the first place, it’s a fair question how he might suddenly be good enough for the XI. But as any follower of Pakistan cricket knows, little should surprise in these matters — so his inclusion in the playing eleven wouldn’t be a shock either.

On cricketing logic alone, though, the stronger case belongs to Awais Zafar, who was always first in line for exactly this scenario. His time has arrived, and he has earned the opportunity.

As for Aamir Jamal, the team management — surely mindful of the three-Test series against England to follow this tour — should persist with him a while longer, if only to build his confidence and give him some continuity.

Ali Usman’s place looks harder to save. He sent down just 13 wicketless overs across some 150-odd overs bowled by West Indies in the first Test. Whether the surface at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy simply didn’t suit him or he was found wanting in accuracy and impact, the end result was the same: little threat, and a debut that will have disappointed his backers.

His likely replacement is either off-spinner Sajid Khan — who has taken 69 wickets in 15 Tests overall, including 15 of them in two Tests against this same West Indies attack in Multan last year — or the uncapped Ubaid Shah, a genuine 140kph-plus quick.

It’s a difficult call either way. Picking Ubaid adds real pace but pushes more of the spin workload onto Salman Ali Agha, with knock-on effects for the over-rate; picking Sajid risks leaving Salman under-bowled, with no certainty yet about how much turn the Queen’s Park Oval surface will offer a frontline spinner.

The venue itself has a storied Test history.

It is the ground where, in April 1976, India chased down a target of 403 to win by six wickets, eventually reaching 406 for four — Gundappa Viswanath’s 112 and Sunil Gavaskar’s 102 doing the early work, before Mohinder Amarnath’s gritty 85 carried India home. It remains one of the great fourth-innings chases in the sport’s history.

Pakistan have played six Tests at the venue, with two wins to their name: an innings and one run victory in the 1957-58 series, and a 266-run win in 1976-77. West Indies have won three times here, their most recent success coming by 204 runs in 1992-93.

A tough, challenging task lies ahead for Pakistan. But if selection is right and the costly errors from Tarouba are addressed, there’s no reason they cannot arrest their away losing streak. West Indies, after all, are not the same formidable side of old either — they sit just one place above Pakistan, in eighth, on the current World Test Championship table.