Lara sounds warning, says they have phychological edge over India

Ahmedabad, Oct 25 (UNI) The West Indian captain Brian Lara today claimed that they hold the psychological advantage over hosts India while they are also improving as a team with every game.

Speaking to reporters at the pre-match press conference today, Lara said, ''I think that while our record against India is impressive, our guys also know they are playing India in their own backyard. They know what to do in these conditions, and that gives them a greater psychological advantage.'' However, Lara said he himself is not sure of playing tomorrow's match as the back injury had not completely healed. ''I will play only if 100 per cent fit and a decision will be taken on the morrow of the match,'' he added.

Asked if he would feel bad to sit out of the match when he was so close to scoring 10,000 one-days runs, Lara replied ''It's not important getting into the five figures. We have a game to work on.'' The star batsman expressed satisfaction with the pitch at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium but said runs would be diffcult to come by.

''It's a decent track, though the batsmen will have to work to get the runs,'' he said.

Speaking about the progress of the team, Lara said ''After we lost to the Sri Lankans (in the last qualifying outing) we went back to the drawing board. And we did execute the plans against the best team of the world.

''We are improving. You may see an even better performance tomorrow,'' Lara said, sounding a warning to the Indians.

Apart from the injury to Lara, there was more bad news in store for the Caribbeans as pacer Corey Collimore, who returned home to be with his wife during the birth of their child, has extended his stay.

''Collimore is delayed as the child is not yet born. So he has been allowed to stay back and he will miss the India match,'' West Indies media manager Imran Khan said.

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