World Cup: Brian Lara Lambasts West Indies for Batting First vs India

Following West Indies' four-wicket loss to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Team India, former batting legend Brian Lara was livid with their choice to bat first on the pacey track at Perth on Friday.

West Indies suffered an early collapse and eventually folded for a lowly 182 after opting to bat against India. (Highlights | Scorecard | Pics | Points Table)

"It's the exact kind of batting performance I expected. If you win the toss, include an extra fast bowler and then choose to bat. I was hoping and expecting that West Indies would win the toss and bowl first at Perth," Lara told NDTV. (Dhoni Keeps Wickets Without Pads)

The left-handed batting maestro also used statistics to strengthen his case. "The record at Perth for India in the last six games is that the team batting second won all six games. Yes the bat is dominating the ball in the World Cup thus far but the West Indies needed to go out there and put their strengths first," Lara said. (Dhoni Beats Ganguly for Most Overseas Win)

Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav made full use of the friendly conditions to put the devastating likes of Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith on the back foot very early. Lara felt none of the batsmen looked comfortable against the pace and bounce of the Indian duo.

"I believe we have a false sense of belief in our batting. I don't think it is very strong and it was showed up today. Chris Gayle & Co. were just not comfortable against the fast bowling of the Indians and we were out of the game from the very beginning," Lara said.

Lara also felt this was the one ground where the West Indies could have beaten India but failed to capitalise on the chance.

"The West Indies team is not better than the Indian team but they got showed up on one ground where they could have gone one up against the Indians," Lara said. (Surviving Windies Scare Good for Team India, Says Dhoni)

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar pointed out a major flaw in the approach of the West Indian batsmen. "I think there was no application. No method in their batting at all. Despite the fact that they were losing wickets, they kept on playing the hook shot to the Indian bowlers," Gavaskar told NDTV. (Jadeja Must Improve, Says Dhoni)

Gavaskar also felt that the Windies missed a trick by not biding their time and waiting for Dhoni to bring the spinners on. "They could have bided their time for the spinners to come and then maybe somebody like Gayle could have really hammered someone like Jadeja and got the runs. Sadly for West Indies, there was no method in their batting," Gavaskar added.

West Indies (4 points) currently occupy the fourth spot in the Pool B points table with just one game (against UAE) in hand. With South Africa (6 points, 2nd spot), Pakistan (4 points, 3rd spot) and Ireland (4 points, 5th spot) fighting it out for a place in the knockout stage, West Indies now run the risk of a group-stage exit.