Lara dedicates hard-fought draw to Soca Warriors

St Lucia, June 15 (UNI) West Indies captain Brian Lara dedicated the hard-fought draw against India in the second Test here to Trinidad and Tobago's soccer team, saying that the Windies' effort was inspired by the Soca Warriors' creditable draw with Sweden in their first outing in the ongoing World Cup in Germany.

''We took a lot of inspiration from them. The score was was very tough and I didn't play so well in the beginning. There were a couple of rash shots but I knew if I could play 50-60 balls then I could take the innings from there. I regard this century as momentous one,'' Lara said after the second Test here.

The Windies skipper said the innings was a learning experience for him and made him much more aware of his responsibilities in tough matches.

''I certainly enjoyed this batting but I also learnt a lot from this. It taught me that dedication is required to play in tough situations and I was never going after the bowling in the innings.

But we played hard and have learnt to be tough when the situation demands,'' he said.

However, Lara said he was disappointed with the standard of wickets in the first Test in Antigua and in the second match here and expected better wickets in St Kitts and Jamaica.

''There has been nine days of Test cricket and the only time we looked on top was when there was some true Test wicket. The pitch here started playing low and was dusty from the third day itself.

''We would love to see fair wickets in St Kitts and Jamaica that help Test cricket,'' he added.

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