The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Lara's fulsome praise for Team India

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Tuesday, Jul 04, 2006

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Lara's fulsome praise for Team India

Special Correspondent

Cites Dravid's impeccable knock and young seamers' great show

Kingston: Grudging in his appreciation for the opposition throughout the series, West Indian captain Brian Lara, showered praise on Rahul Dravid and India's young seamers after the conclusion of the fourth Test.

"You look at Dravid, he fought all the way to get to 60 odd and then got an unplayable ball," said Lara. "His batting, I must commend his batting throughout the series, was excellent. He led by example and I spoke to him after his innings. I don't think I have seen a better two innings put together on such a surface. I think it was tremendous batting and he showed really why he is called `The Wall.'"

On Munaf Patel and Sreesanth, the 37-year-old said, "They were excellent. I don't know if they came from the MRF Pace Foundation but they definitely showed that they got that sort of professionalism. Munaf and Sreesanth definitely put the ball in the right areas. I think it was very risky to play two fast bowlers but whenever they were called upon, they proved that they were strong, that they got a breakthrough here and there."

Lara was impressed by V.R.V. Singh: "I also like Singh. I think he is a very good player, he made his debut in Antigua. I thought he put the ball in the right areas and I think he is someone India should keep very close to the team. He has got the height and he seems to have the passion.

"I spoke to him and he called me and wants to know what is going on with his game and how he can improve. I couldn't tell him anything because for a debutant, I thought he was exceptional."

The Sabina Park track, however, rubbed him the wrong way. "I thought the pitch was not ready for such an important match," said Lara.

"The pitch for this Test match again, it reminds of listening to West Indies play 20 years ago where we used to thrash Australia but every time we got to Sydney, we used to lose. It seems as if it was totally prepared for the Indians."

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