West Indies great Garfield Sobers said on Wednesday he was confident Australia
would bounce back from their recent string of losses and make a strong title defence
at next month’s World Cup in the Caribbean. 
The world champions were whitewashed 3-0 in the one-day series
against hosts New Zealand which finished on Tuesday, having only just
lost 2-0 to England at home in the finals of a triangular tournament.
The three-times winners have also been hit by injuries.
‘I think they will now realise what they have to do and
they will get it right by the time they arrive in the Caribbean,’ Sobers
told reporters during a visit to India.
‘Australia is always a force to reckon with. (But) I think
they should have waited until after the World Cup to play the series,’
he said referring to the Chappell Hadlee series with New Zealand.
The 70-year-old Sobers said West Indies, winners in
1975 and 1979, were also serious contenders for the tournament, which starts
on March 13.
‘If you had asked me three years ago, I’d have said West Indies definitely
did not have a chance,’ he said.
‘But in the last year or so, West Indies seem to have turned the corner.
And playing at home is going to give them a little bit of advantage.’
He said former champions India, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka along with top-ranked one-day team South Africa had an equal
chance of winning the World Cup.
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