ABU DHABI, Nov 11: Pakistan hope they can shake off rustiness and put off-field problems behind them as they gear up for the three-match One-day International series against the West Indies starting here on Wednesday.

Shoaib Malik’s side is woefully short of match practice, having played just five one-dayers against strong opposition this year — four against India and one against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan were forced to host minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh for one-dayers after Australia, South Africa and New Zealand refused to tour the country due to security fears.

And the chance to test themselves against the world’s best in September’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan was denied as the tournament was postponed for the same reasons.

The refusal of the West Indies to play in Pakistan, also over security fears, forced the choice of the neutral venue of Abu Dhabi for the three-match series.

Cricket-starved Pakistan have also faced off-field problems, which led to the sacking of their Australian coach Geoff Lawson after just 13 months in the job. He was replaced last month by Intikhab Alam, a former Pakistan captain.

And Pakistan’s woes mounted when they lost prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who was banned for joining the rebel Indian Cricket League earlier this month. He was initially named in the 15-member squad for this series.

Intikhab though is not perturbed over the lack of match practice.

“We may have played less cricket but I don’t believe in such negatives. This is a very important series for us because after this we have India touring us and for that we need better rhythm,” Intikhab said.

Pakistan host India for three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 International early next year.

Pakistan also had to leave out opener Nasir Jamshed, who pulled out hours before the team’s departure due to lack of fitness. He was replaced by Khurram Manzoor.

In contrast, a collection of West Indies players recently hit the jackpot when they thrashed the England Superstars in the Stanford Twenty20 finale in Antigua, earning millions of dollars in the process.

West Indies coach John Dyson said he hoped the series against Pakistan would help the team’s preparations for next month’s tour of New Zealand.

“Newcomers Brendan Nash, Leon Johnson and Shawn Findlay showed they are ready to perform against Pakistan,” he said.

Pakistan will be looking for an impressive performance from star paceman Shoaib Akhtar, yet to play a One-day International this year for fitness and disciplinary reasons.

Shoaib, with 219 wickets in 138 one-dayers, returned to the squad in August for a Twenty20 tournament in Canada.

“Shoaib has overcome his problems and we hope he delivers for the team,” said Intikhab.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik said that the absence of Yousuf is unlikely to create any problem.

“We have lost legendary players in the past, but the team somehow has to find a replacement and carry on,” Malik said. “We will support the new players. We are all professionals and we are expected to take things like lack of preparation and departure of players in our strides.”

West Indies captain Chris Gayle, meanwhile, said his team-mates are over the euphoria of winning a million dollars each and are ready for the one-day series against Pakistan.

“It was great fun,” Gayle told a news conference. “We really enjoyed it. But it is [the] past now and we are over it. The financial reward is good, but we know this is an important international series, and all our players are focused to do well against Pakistan.”

Gayle also said his team will not be lulled into a sense of complacency by Pakistan’s lack of topflight matches since the Asia Cup in July.

“I can understand how frustrating it must be for Pakistan not to be playing international cricket on a regular basis,” Gayle said. “We really don’t have any idea how fit their players are.”

The remaining two matches are scheduled for Friday and Sunday.

Teams (from):

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam

West Indies: Chris Gayle (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lionel Baker, Carlton Baugh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shawn Findlay, Leon Johnson, Xavier Marshall, Nikita Miller, Dave Mohammed, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.

Umpires: Steve Davis (Australia) and Mark Benson (England).

TV umpire: Daryl Harper (Australia).

Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).

—Agencies