PERTH, Australia CMC – Legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd has dismissed suggestions the Caribbean side has become overly dependent on ace opener Chris Gayle and was missing regular faces like Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo from the middle order.

Speaking to media here last Monday, Lloyd said while Gayle was a key member of the Windies batting department, the team was blessed with good talent which allowed them to bat deep.
“Before the Zimbabwe game, Gayle hadn’t really contributed. It’s great whenever we get a good start with him,” said Lloyd, the current chairman of selectors. “He scores rather quickly. He’s a very strong player. Whenever he takes off, it gives the team a good impetus.”
He continued: “I think we have a formidable side. We bat to eight or nine; everybody from one to nine has done extremely well, posted big scores. I don’t think we have any problem there (in the middle order). Once we bat to our potential, we will do extremely well.”
The left-handed Gayle blasted a World Cup-record 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra recently, to end a slump which had seen him with just one half-century in 20 months and an average of 14.
Prior to that innings, Gayle had put together scores of 0 and 1 in the official warm-up matches against England and Scotland, and 36 and 4 in the first two group stage matches against Ireland and Pakistan.
West Indies lost to Ireland by four wickets but beat Pakistan by 150 runs and Gayle’s double-hundred led West Indies to a 73-run win but his failure against Pakistan – he made just three – saw the Caribbean side plunge to a 257-run defeat to South Africa in Sydney.
West Indies face India in their fifth match at the WACA ground on Friday and despite their recent struggles, Lloyd held out hope for the Caribbean side especially in the fast bowling area, noting that the results would be seen soon.
“It’s quite obvious (the pace reserves have declined),” he said. “We’d love to have (Andy) Roberts, (Michael) Holding, (Curtly) Ambrose and (Courtney) Walsh but it doesn’t happen in any other country. We’ve had a little bit of a decline, but we have one or two young players coming through and you’ll hear about them in another year or so.”

UPSET
Meanwhile, the 70-year-old Lloyd believes India are formidable opponents but says a disciplined West Indies effort can see the reigning World champions beaten, when the two teams meet at the WACA ground this coming Friday.
India are unbeaten in three outings in this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup while West Indies have lost two of four games and both teams will be eyeing victory as crucial especially with a place in the next round looming.
“The point is that we have a good bowling attack, good batsmen, and a good all-round side,” Lloyd said here yesterday.
“If we bat, we have to make enough runs to win and defend. We do have the bowlers to do so. This pitch is quite good – it’s got very constant bounce. It’s a good cricket pitch. They (India) have won three out of three, so we can’t fault their bowling or their batting.”
He added: “One-day cricket is about who play well on the day and get their disciplines right. If we do that, we give them a good run for their money. They’re defending champions and they want to be in this World Cup as long as possible.
“It’s obvious that this game is important to us and to you for that matter. We want to do well and if we play to our ability, we’ll be able to do so.”
India opened their campaign with a 76-run victory over Pakistan and followed up by crushing South Africa by 130 runs, before overpowering minnows United Arab Emirates to win by nine wickets, but despite this form, Lloyd said he was hoping to see West Indies put up a strong challenge.
“India are always a formidable side and they’ll continue to be so. But when you set a standard, people expect you to keep that standard all the time,” he pointed out.
“India are doing well, but I hope they don’t do too well on Friday. It will be a good game. India will be good opponents. They’ve been playing well and we’ve been sporadic in our play but we’re hoping that this pitch will suit us quite well. It should be quite an exciting game.”
West Indies’ recent record against India does not make for good reading, as they have lost their last four series and have suffered defeats in 13 of their last 20 meetings, while on last October’s ill-fated tour, they won the first game of the series convincingly before going on to lose the aborted series.
Lloyd noted the Caribbean side were coming up against the core of the same squad from last year.
“It’s nearly the same sort of side. Your pace bowling seems to be pretty good and you have a good spin bowler in (Ravi) Ashwin,” the legendary former Windies captain said.
“You’ve got a good variety, and I think you have good all-round strength. Virat Kohli has been a tremendous player over the last two years and now you have the likes of (Shikhar) Dhawan coming through. I think you should do well.”