Pakistan begin a Caribbean reset as the Brian Lara Academy stages its first Test
The Brian Lara Cricket Academy finally hosts a Test, and a rebuilt Pakistan under a returning Babar Azam begin their two-match tour of West Indies there on 25 July.
Jul 20, 2026
A ground named after the man who redefined batting is about to host its first Test, and it has taken a while. The Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba has staged one-day internationals and T20 World Cup nights, but the five-day game has never been played there until now. Pakistan provide the opposition when the first Test starts on 25 July, and they arrive in Trinidad with a new captain, an old face, and plenty to prove.
Babar back in charge
Pakistan turned to Babar Azam again for this tour, handing him the Test captaincy for a second time after moving on from Shan Masood. Masood took the job at the end of 2023 and never found a way to make it stick, losing twelve of his sixteen Tests in charge. That kind of record forces a change, and the board went back to the batter who had the role before him.
It is a gamble either way. Babar’s own Test form has been picked over for a couple of years, and captaincy did not obviously lift it the first time around. But he remains Pakistan’s most bankable name in the middle order, and the theory is that the responsibility and a fresh start abroad might sharpen him. If he scores runs, the whole top order tends to look steadier.
Coming off a chastening tour
The backdrop is not comfortable. Pakistan were swept 2-0 in Bangladesh earlier this year, handing their hosts a first home whitewash of them, and the manner of it stung as much as the result. Batting collapses on turning pitches exposed the same soft middle that has cost them before, and the selectors have reshaped the squad with that in mind.
The Caribbean offers a different examination. West Indian pitches are rarely the spinning traps of Mirpur, and the new-ball bowling of Mohammad Abbas and company should have more to work with. Pakistan will fancy their seamers here. The question, as ever, is whether the batting can post the totals to let those bowlers attack.
A new stage in Tarouba
For West Indies, the venue is the story as much as the cricket. The academy that carries Lara’s name has waited years to be handed a Test, having built its international reputation on white-ball fixtures, including T20 World Cup matches. Now it becomes a fully accredited Test ground, and the hosts will want to christen it with a win.
Roston Chase leads a West Indies side that has been rebuilding in fits and starts, capable of the occasional strong week and just as capable of folding. Home advantage counts for plenty in the format, and a low-key two-Test series against a Pakistan team in flux is the sort of assignment they should target rather than merely survive.
Points on the line
Beyond the occasion, this is World Test Championship cricket, and neither side can treat the points lightly. Both have work to do to climb the 2025-27 table, and a two-match series that ends at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain from 2 August gives each of them a rare chance to bank a result away from the giants of the format.
Pakistan will not get an easier moment to steady themselves under Babar’s renewed leadership. West Indies will not get a better stage to mark a first Test at Lara’s academy. Whoever handles the week better walks away with more than bragging rights, and on this evidence the margins look thin.