St John’s [Antigua and Barbuda]: Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara has said that players from West Indies need to “grow a little bit” mentally and should look to “learn a bit more” to showcase better results in the Test format.
Lara is currently with the Windies team as part of the side’s pre-series camp for the two-match Test series against India in Antigua. Former Windies cricketer Ramnaresh Sarwan is also a part of the camp.
“Where I feel I can make an impact is their mental approach to the game. I feel as if I was to strike on one thing that I was decent at was mentally where I prepared myself strongly. The practical side is there for the young players but I feel mentally they can grow a little bit and learn a little bit more,” official website of Cricket West Indies (CWI) quoted Lara as saying.
West Indies are currently ranked at the eighth position in the ICC rankings. The team had a good start to 2019 as they outclassed England 2-1 in the Test series.
“The performance against England to win a series at home I think is the start of something really good for us. We must lay the foundation at home first before we travel abroad in foreign conditions to sort of take command of situations,” Lara said.
Lara labelled current West Indies’s Test players as the right bunch of cricketers. He also hailed the intensity that the players have been showing in the camp.
“I decided to join the camp simply because I feel this present crop of West Indies players, especially in the Test arena, is the right group of players. The talent that’s within is there,” Lara said.
“From what I’ve seen in the camp is an intense practice which is good. I think the intensity I’ve seen in this camp is very good. The young players are working hard, Floyd Reifer (the head coach) and his team are actually putting things together pretty good,” he added.
West Indies were defeated by India in the recently concluded T20I and ODI series.
India outclassed Windies 3-0 in T20Is whereas they defeated the team from Caribbean 2-0 in ODIs.
Windies and India next lock horns in the two-match Test series, beginning from August 22 at Antigua.
The series will be a part of the World Test Championship.