'Chronic' batting problem worries Lara

Brian Lara said his team's inability to assess their worsening situation and play accordingly was a major concern in their disastrous warm-up loss to India. West Indies collapsed for 85 in the 26th over, and lost their last seven wickets for 32.

Lara said the batsmen would need to learn from their mistakes to ensure they had a realistic chance of winning the World Cup. "The guys need to understand their roles," he told AFP. "There are two roles in a one-day international.

"If your team is doing well, you have to keep the momentum going, but if they are in a bad situation, you have to consolidate and bat out the 50 overs. We don't seem to be able to get the second part right when we are under pressure and this has to change."

Lara believes the problem is an ongoing one but he said it was best the wake-up call came before the tournament began. "We have to focus now on what we have to do, and there is a situation which I think is a bit chronic," Lara said. "We are prone to such collapses as we saw in this match.

"We have to refresh our memories now about how we got ourselves out of this situation the last time and do it. I wouldn't say we are down in the dumps yet because the tournament hasn't started."

Lara said the team plan was simple - bat for 50 overs and set a challenging total. He said the pitch could not be blamed for West Indies' effort, and India had little trouble overhauling the target within 19 overs.

"I think it is pretty transparent what took place out there," Lara said. "We did not apply ourselves, and it had nothing to do with what was the team plan. We were like every other team. We were looking to bat 50 overs. We were looking at a particular target. But we never really got to any of them."

West Indies kick off their home tournament with the opening game, against Pakistan in Jamaica on Tuesday. They also face Zimbabwe and Ireland in their group stage.