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Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara

King

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King Newbie

King

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Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara CHENNAI, JAN 25 (PTI) Brian Lara today said an India-West Indies final showdown at the 2007 cricket World Cup would be a delight for the fans of the two countries. "One cannot expect a better final than one with India and West Indies. It becomes all the more special since over 50 per cent of the people in the Carribean are Indians," he said. "India and West Indies have been playing so much of cricket for the past 8-10 months and it is very likely that both teams will reach the finals of the World Cup to be held in my country," Lara said during an interactive session on leadership, organised by ING Vysya bank. "To play with India is tremendous," he added. Lara, who was out of action in the Cuttack one-dayer in due to an injury, said he hoped to play in the third match at Chennai, because his knee was healing well. "I am still sore in the left knee but I hope to get better within the next 24 hours. I will hopefully play in the next game on January 27," the West-Indian captain said. Dwelling on the present series, he said these matches would help the West Indies choose the list of 15 for the World Cup. "Lots of young people, all either in their early twenties or even less than that, are getting a chance to play in this series and this will help pick the best West Indian team for the World Cup," he said. India has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four match series. Lara, who has donned the West Indian captaincy mantle for the third successive time, said the team has a lot of scope for improvement. "We have a very young team now. They need a lot of guidance to be moulded into excellent cricketers. And for that they look at players in their mid-30s, like me, for such guidance. "I realise I still have something to offer for West Indian cricket and hope to leave a mark before I retire," he said. Lara said that being the West Indian captain was the toughest job because the players belonged to any of the 15-16 islands in the country and came from completely different backgrounds. "Motivating the players is a tough proposition but a lot of in-room discussions and personal interactions with each other do help," he said. However, with cricket being the sole unifying factor in the Carribean, it was easy to motivate any player, who had understood the rich legacy of West Indian cricket. "The best way to relax my players is reggae music," Lara said. "Just pass through the corridor outside their hotel rooms and you'll hear a lot of this music in their rooms". Expressing happiness over the present excellent form of Shivnarain Chanderpaul, Lara said he hoped the same continued for the next few months till the World Cup. Showering encomiums on Sachin Tendulkar, Lara said he shared a very cordial relationship with him and it was wonderful to have a friend like him. "Sachin and I are very happy in each other's company and we share a lot of our views on cricket whenever we get together. It is very good to talk an extremely talented cricketer who has billions of people behind his back, pressurising him to perform well," Lara said. For him, Sachin is "an icon and an inspiration" and he hoped to extend their friendship "'past the boundary" too. On the other hand, Lara referred to Steve Waugh as a "cricketer with class". Waugh began his career with mediocrity and then went on to excel, which is very unusual in cricket, he said. "It is easy to be a prodigy but for someone to change gears in his mid-career, it requires class," Lara said.

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head coach Newbie

head coach

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Re: Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara India winning WC or reaching semifinal would largely depend on how the middle order batsmen play. As we saw at Cuttack, as soon as the openers depart there is the sword hanging at a batting collapse. Karthick played well but defedning a total less than 200 is a huge challenge. It'll be interesting to see if Inda is 2 or 3 down within 10 overs how middle order consist of tendulkar, dravid, Yuvaraj, Dhoni, Karthick holds the fort? This will make India to the next level in WC if they are successful.

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The_Black_Prince Newbie

The_Black_Prince

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Re: Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara The Caribbean has about 5 Million people of which approx 1 Million originated from India. That is 20%. Indians though presently make up about 40% of the West Indian team - Chanders, Ganga, Ramdin, Sarwan, Mohammed. Lara is wrong in his percentages, though in Guyana and Trinidad where he comes from Indians do make up 50% of the population. Shame on you Ravi !! :lol::lol::lol:

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cricajar Newbie

cricajar

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Re: Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara Lara's just being classy guys, I honestly don't think its some psychological ploy. I think its really neat that Sachin and Lara have such a great rapport, its certainly great for the game. Besides we have a great track-record against WI in the WC final...

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yoda Newbie

yoda

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Re: Looking forward to India-WI final in World Cup: Lara

Lara's just being classy guys' date=' I honestly don't think its some psychological ploy. I think its really neat that Sachin and Lara have such a great rapport, its certainly great for the game. Besides we have a great track-record against WI in the WC final...[/quote'] I agree.
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