Pakistan vs West Indies, T20I: Hits and Misses from the series.

Pakistan rounded off a facile 3-0 whitewash of West Indies in a lop-sided T20 series in Karachi, the first bilateral series on the country's soil in nine years.

Shorn of several A-list players, the Windies cut a dismal figure on each occasion, succumbing to the kitchen sink that the men in green relentless threw at them.

Pakistan, on their part, played to the gallery even if it had little bearings or consequences going forward. But nonetheless, the fans were served a treat as they welcomed cricket back into the country to a rapturous reception.

Here are the hits and misses from the series:

---

Hit: Hussain Talat

Talat celebrates his half-century against Windies in the second T20I

The 21-year old southpaw collected his maiden international caps with Pakistan in this series and embarked on a whirlwind start to his international career.

A score of 41 on his debut was followed by an incredible knock of 63, before propelling his side to a third triumph with an unbeaten 31, to finish at 135 for the series at a strike rate of 127.36.

Talat imbued great confidence with the willow, transcending his domestic heroics onto the international stage and off to a flyer in his senior career. He can be a useful addition to the squad if his incredible form continues in the run-up to the World Cup.

Miss: Windies bowling

Rovman Powell sulks during one his poor bowling spells

Even without the likes of Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse and Jerome Taylor in their ranks, Windies did have a considerable bowling unit in Samuel Badree, Jason Mohammed, and newfound teen sensation Keemo Paul to ruffle a few feathers.

Except, it didn't move a single hair strand. Pakistan smashed Windies out of the park with belligerent and aggressive play as neither the seam nor the off-breaks appeared to spew the kind of venom it did during the recently concluded ICC World Qualifiers.

The extent of the Caribbean outfit's lackluster bowling can be summed up by the fact that none of them feature in the top 10 list of bowlers with the best figures across the three games. Not one! Whereas the 37-year old Rayad Emrit was their most prolific on the wicket count, with just 3!

Hit: Babar Azam

Babar Azam was the most prolific batsman in the series

Pakistan's brightest talent to emerge in the recent years continued to keep the fans swooning over his prodigy. Babar Azam effectively shrugged off his erratic form in the qualifiers to get back into his element in this series and finishes as the most prolific batsmen with 165 at an average of 82.5 in three games.

His best performance remains the unbeaten knock of 97 he registered in the second game to help his side post a massive target of 205.

Azam, who has a propinquity to this particular format, stepped up to the plate every time Fakhar Zaman fumbled and shouldered most of the burden in the batting department allowing others to repose.

Miss: The attitude of West Indies

West Indies didn't look very interested

The moment the squad list was out, it was apparent that West Indies were coming into this halfheartedly and without the ambition of taking away something. There might be reasons aplenty - possible fatigue after the three gruesome weeks of qualifiers; Pakistan's besmirched image as a terror ground et al, but it was an opportunity lost for West Indies.

Given the wobbly way in which they secured a qualification in next year's showpiece, this was perhaps a good chance to truly test their mettle against the best T20 side. Having contested lower ranked teams in Zimbabwe, Pakistan were always going to be a far tougher proposition and Windies had an opportunity for an ideal start to prepare for 2019.

Instead, the board chose to fall back on their sword a bit and sent an admittedly B-team whose performances aptly suggested the same. And this, in turn, left Pakistan with no real challenge to look forward to and cruised to victory without breaking a sweat.

Hit: Pakistan's cricket community

Pakistan supporters liven up the atmosphere

The return of cricket to Pakistan was a jubilant affair and the overwhelming turn-outs for each game suggested how much the locals there missed the taste of international cricket.

Emotions were plausibly running high among the home support, as the thronging faithfuls held aloft various placards expressing their elation and excitement, and also kept the atmosphere vivacious with resounding energy.

For all the issues off the field that has kept cricket splintered in the country, the hoi polloi of Pakistan didn't seem to have lost even a scintilla of passion towards the game as they welcomed international cricket back to their turf with open arms.