'Keep The Faith'

Sun, May 21, '06

 

from MICHELLE McDONALD in Jamaica

I have a confession to make...very timely especially since today is the day of worship for my religious faith. After writing that yesterday's game was going to be a cracker, I left in the middle of it. Precisely the middle.

After West Indies trudged along to 50 in 122 balls with four wickets down, eventually reaching 198 all out due only to Ramnaresh Sarwan's unbeaten 98, could you blame the sceptics who know of India's aptitude to score heavily? You could hardly call 199 a challenging target...right? Wrong! This I was to find out when I turned the car around after a little voice [could it have been Lara's???] said to me "go back to Sabina Park now."

What did the captain want to say to those sceptics - me included - after the nail biting finish which saw West Indies winning by one run in the final over of the match? "I'd say first of all to put you out of the room!" he chuckled at the post-match press conference. Fortunately they were kind enough to allow me to stay. And even more fortunately, I had got to see some exciting play in the last ten overs of India's innings.

Obviously happy but conscious of the amount of improvement still required, Lara referred to Sarwan's "extraordinary innings, seeing wickets fall at one end and holding his head." Other notables were the superb effort in the field, and the reduction of extras.

Dwayne Smith, on the field for Sarwan who was suffering from cramps, took two good catches [so I was told as I didn't see those]. Both Ian Bradshaw and Chris Gayle took sharp return catches at crucial points [I saw Gayle's]. Marlon Samuels and Jerome Taylor chipped in as well when the captain called on them. More importantly, it was a total team effort. Lara said "today we were exceptional. We defended a total much smaller than we did on Thursday."

The decision to use Dwayne Bravo to bowl the last over when India required 11 runs for victory was also part of the ongoing plan to ensure that every player can contribute when required. "I had an option today with Fidel Edwards or Bravo but the fact that Bravo did a very good job on Thursday was the telling effect. He's an amazing player to have in your team," the West Indian captain said referring to the disappointment of not scoring any runs, but yet still coming back to do the job with the ball.

Lara acknowledged that the team often gets into positions to win. "Unfortunately we lapse or throw that opportunity away. Today it was a true show of character from the guys," he stated. Would he describe it as a huge win or big win? "I have to look in the dictionary to know the difference between big and huge but it was an important win?a very very important win," he responded. "The fact that we have been playing good cricket against Zimbabwe , we were improving, we were experimenting, and at some point in time you think 'when is it going to come to fruition' and today it did," said a pleased Lara.

The captain, who is in his third stint at the helm, said that he is looking at the holistic picture. "We need to look at our entire game and grab opportunities. Today we won, but we want to win much easier," he explained. Then he sent a subtle warning to his team mates. "I think each and every single individual better improve all facets of their game to ensure that happens. You can't come from 251 in 45 overs, to 198 in 50 overs on the same pitch."

And for me and all the other naysayers, he had a simple message. "You need to keep the faith. If you were here on Thursday, there was no way you could leave the ground. I think [the rest of the series] is going to be exciting and I think people should keep the faith. West Indians should keep the faith in the team."