Dujon lambasts Windies for loss; questions Lara's decison to bowl

Montego Bay, Mar 10 (UNI) West Indies great Jeffrey Dujon has lambasted the hosts' batting performance in their nine-wicket loss to India and said Pakistan will have a psychological edge over the Caribbean side when they clash on Tuesday.

He said Pakistan must be happy at the prospects of beating the home team in their first group match.

''It is clear this game must be important as the West Indies play their strongest opposition in their group on Tuesday so what they have ended up doing, they won't take any pluses from this game and the Pakistanis must be feeling really good,'' said the wicketkeeper batsman who played in the 1983 and 1987 World Cups.

''The batting performance was disappointing to say the least.

This is a team that is supposed to be preparing to compete in the World Cup and I think the effort they made this morning with the bat in pretty good batting conditions was pretty poor,'' local media here reported Dujon as saying.

Dujon questioned Brian Lara's leadership and indicated the skipper might have gone against coach Bennett King's suggestion to put India in.

''The wicket has offered help to the bowlers throughout, but obviously it would be a little fresher in the morning. Speaking to coach Bennett King, he had wanted to bowl first, but I guess the captain decided against it, so I don't know how the leadership of the team works, but the coach said one thing, but the captain did another.'' Another former West Indies player Maurice Foster questioned the team's application.

Foster termed the home side's batting display as pathetic.

''Obviously it is a warm-up game and the stats don't carry forward into the World Cup, but you want to start the World Cup with the psychological advantage and a victory,'' he said.

Foster also found the decision to bat first ''a bit strange'' and said ''the obvious cricket decision was to have sent India in.'' He, however, said that if the West Indies were going to play badly it is better to do it here (in the warm-up) rather than when the tournament starts, and the hope was that they can rebound from this loss.

UNI