Rahul Dravid optimistic about winning the series in windies

Mumbai, May 11 (UNI) India may have failed to win a Test series in the Caribbeans for than three decades but before leaving for West Indies, skipper Rahul Dravid was confidence personified as he hoped to reverse the trend.

Talking to reporters here today, Dravid, flanked by coach Greg Chappell and BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, also admitted beating Brian Lara's side at their den won't be an easy task.

''West Indies always plays well on the home turf and only Australia could defeat them there,'' he pointed out.

''I can't single out any particular reason for India not winning any series in West Indies in the last 35 years. The conditions there are quite tricky,'' observed Dravid, who had been there twice earlier.

Dravid, meanwhile, was not ready to talk about next year's World Cup, also in the West Indies.

''We are not focusing that far. However, our experience of the present tour will definitely help us in next year's World Cup which is going to be played in West Indies,'' he said.

Speaking about the West Indies bowling attack, Dravid said though they may not be as good as the legendary bowlers of the past, ''They are sharp and nippy''.

Dravid admitted that Indian fielding was not good enough during the recent England tour and added that the team would have to concentrate hard on this area.

Dravid, meanwhile, said he has had a good one year with coach Chappell and he was enriched.

''It was a good one year with him and we keep on learning from him,'' he said.

Chappell, on his part, said, ''We are improving and have done well in ODIs. This is a challenging job and my interaction with the players has been good.'' When asked about too much cricket, the Australian cricket legend admitted that it was important for the players to get breaks at regular intervals and that BCCI should understand that the players should not be overburdened.

Commenting on the reappointment of Brian Lara as the West Indies captain, Chappell said ''Lara is the most experienced batsman and captain in their side and it's a positive step.'' ''We have to prove one point that we can also win away from home,'' he reiterated and said that it would not help worrying about the outcome of the series but what was important according to him, was to develop players.

The first practise match will be played at Jamaica on May 16 and the first of the five ODI's will start on May 18 and the ODI series concludes on May 28.

Team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice captain), Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, MS Dhoni (WK), Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, S Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel.

Coach: Greg Chappell Manager: Ranjib Biswal UNI JM KU AY PM2237