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Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar Monday said the West Indies would be no pushover but admitted that he would be disappointed if his team didn't win the Test and one-day series.

"I will not repeat my prediction of a clean sweep against Bangladesh. But I will be disappointed if we don't win the Test and one-day series against the West Indies," Mudassar said on the eve of his team's departure.

Mudassar said the West Indies was not being taken seriously by the game's pundits which was a dangerous thing to do.

"West Indies strength lies in their bowling. They may have been bashed in Sri Lanka or some other place, but conditions in Sharjah are absolutely different," he said.

The West Indies, currently the whipping boys of international cricket, will be without Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan because of injuries.

"West Indies might be without Lara and Sarwan. But we will also be without Wasim Akram who is an outstanding bowler and who could have made better use of the old ball. I don't have a bowler who can replace him," he said.

Wasim bowled 20 balls in Dhaka before turning with a hamstring injury. He was overlooked by the selectors for the Sharjah series but Mudassar said door was open for the left-hander to join the team for the second Test starting Feb 4.

"I have seen marked improvement in his bowling in the last two days. He is making speedy recovery and I sincerely hope he joins the team before the second Test," he said.

Pakistan named a four-man pace attack led by Waqar Younis who is probably the only bowler who is in form. Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar are all injury-prone and staging comeback after a layoff.

"I am a bit concerned but I am confident Sami and Shoaib will come through. Sami is a bowler who can do anything anytime though he was a bit rusty in the last one-day international.

"Shoaib looks fit to me and is also bowling well. But I agree that there are question marks since the fast bowlers will have to do a lot more bowling than they have been doing recently." Mudassar has, however, pinned his hopes on spin duo of Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria.

"Going by the trend, the series should be dominated by the spinners and I believe Danish has a major role to play," he said.

Danish, he continued, had come out of age and was bowling brilliantly. "Although he cannot be compared with someone like Shane Warne, but he gets more bounce than Warne because of his height. He is a keen cricketer who has improved his overall cricket."

Mudassar said it was premature to say on the combination of the team for the first Tests, be admitted that Shahid Afridi was a serious contender to open the innings with Taufiq Umer.

Meanwhile, paceman Mohammad Zahid's comeback to international cricket was abruptly halted when he couldn't depart to Sharjah with the team.

According to highly placed sources, the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) failed to arrange visa for the fast bowler who last played for Pakistan three years ago.

Sources further said Zahid might also miss the first Test. "His visa has gone into security clearance. Probably the confusion is because of his namesake. But it is highly unlikely that he would be able to join the team before the first Test," sources said.

Squad: Taufiq Umer, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice- captain), Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), Waqar Younis (captain), Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria, Saqlain Mushtaq, Faisal Iqbal, Naved Latif, Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Zahid.

© Dawn