West Indian captain Brian Lara admitted that the nine-wicket loss to India
in the practice match on Friday was "devastating" but refused to believe
his side was down and out even before the World Cup started.
"We are not exactly down in the dumps as the tournament
hasn't even started yet. We know what we have to do and it's to avoid such situations
again," said Lara.
Still Lara couldn't hide the disappointment at the sudden collapse
his side suffered after a decent start.
"From 53 for 2, nobody could have seen a collapse coming to the extent
that the team was all out for 85. So in that sense the collapse was devastating.
It's definitely something we are worried about." Lara didn't think there
was an over-reliance within the team on two or three senior players and the
rest simply didn't respond to challenges.
"We have a lot of experience but what we would like to have is more match
winners," he said.
"It isn't as if youngsters haven't got runs. Dwayne Bravo has got a century
batting at number three and Marlon Samuels too has sparkled. It's just
that they have to get it consistently."
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