Speaking at the Media launch of the West Indies versus Sri Lanka series at the team’s Accra Beach Hotel here yesterday, Lara said he is well aware that the Caribbean people are expecting his side to defeat the Sri Lankans after their hat-trick of limited over victories over World champions, Australia.

“I am almost sure that the way we’ve ended both Test and One-Day series against Australia, we are on an upward mobility and we are looking forward to more successes and I think it is an ideal opportunity for us to start now,” Lara said.

But he warns that it was very important for the West Indian players “to stay away from over-confidence.”

“We got to keep the guys very competitive, keep them honest and make sure that they know it is also going to be a very tough task,” warns Lara.

“Sri Lanka have got their match-winners in different facets of the game.

They’ve got a big spinner, great opening batsmen and guys who have won games for them on many occasions so we expect our team to understand that,” added Lara.

He revealed that the West Indian cricketers are starting to believe in themselves, which is critical against opponents who have upstaged them in recent Test and One-Day matches.

“For the One-Day series, we set team plans, something that we’ve worked on over the last two to three weeks and the guys now seem to be believing in it.

The self-confidence is great and I think most importantly against Sri Lanka, we got to believe in ourselves,” contended Lara.

“I think it is important to understand that the last three encounters against Sri Lanka, they’ve won the majority of the time, if not a hundred per cent.

“We got to make sure and guard against that and go out there and play to the best of our ability. The people of the Caribbean will be expecting that so I am sure the guys are full of confidence, yes, but they got the fear in their mind of the Sri Lankans and how good they are,” Lara said.

Without revealing any specific tactics, Lara, who showed imaginative leadership during the tail-end of the One-Day series against Australia, said the strategy would be similar with a few adjustments.

“We expect to employ the same plans that we’ve had as a team against Australia, against Sri Lanka, maybe with a few changes here and there because of their attack, both batting and bowling.

“But I am almost sure that the guys are going to stay away from the most important thing which is over-confidence and make sure we go out there and give a good account of ourselves,” Lara said.

Lara conceded that the West Indies players view things like the latest ICC team rankings very seriously.

“They appear in the newspapers and they got six million West Indians watching it and commenting on it so of course, it is important to us,” Lara revealed.

“I think most importantly is the state of our game at present and where we lie and I think over the last ten days, especially in the One-Day series, we’ve showed that we can compete against the best team in the world and we can beat the best team in the world.

“At present we are looking at the state of our game, making sure that we go out there and do the same thing that we have been doing over the last ten days in the last three One-Day games against Australia, over and over,” Lara said.

Lara admitted Sri Lanka have beaten the West Indies in both Test and One-Day cricket in recent times but said his players are thinking about progressing not just revenge.

“We assessed their game and we know where their strengths lie. We are not really thinking of revenge. What we are thinking to do is keep moving in the direction we’ve been moving over the last two months.

“In our way is Sri Lanka and we are going to try our best to overcome that.

We are playing against a country where the players are going to come out there and fight for their people. We got to do the same and I expect my guys to perform well,” Lara noted.

Meanwhile, the West Indies selectors last night omitted Ryan Hurley, Darren Powell, Omari Banks and Devon Smith from their fifteen for today’s match.

Teams:
Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan,Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Ryan Hurley, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore, Darren Powell, David Bernard, Omari Banks, Devon Smith.

Sri Lanka (from) - Marvan Atapattu (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar

Sangakkara, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillakaratne, Mahela Jayawardene,

Naveed

Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, Prabath