Amir missed the 2011 and 2015 tournaments due to a spot-fixing ban and was also sidelined in the last four matches of the recent one-day international series against England due to chicken pox.

Pakistan left out experienced batsman Shoaib Malik, playing his last World Cup, and also hard-hitting batsman Asif Ali to go with two frontline spinners and three fast bowlers.

Seam bowler Kemar Roach was left out of the West Indies line-up.

“I don’t think the conditions will change much,” said West Indies captain Jason Holder. “Hopefully we can use the overhead conditions to get some early wickets. We’ve had a good camp and got a lot out of our warm-up games.”

Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said: “We wanted to bowl first because of the overcast conditions and a bit of moisture, but it will be a good batting pitch.”