Brian Lara blames bowlers for India's debacle

West Indies' batting great Brain Lara yesterday came out in support of Indian captain MS Dhoni and blamed an inconsistent bowling line-up for the visitors' poor show in the current Test series against Australia.

"I know Indians won't be happy with what happened in England and Australia, but you have to give Dhoni a second chance. His achievements speak a lot - a successful T20 and ODI captain," said Lara, who visited Khar Gymkhana to interact with young cricketers.

"The bowling department has put a lot of pressure on the batsmen. India have a great batting line-up, but it will always be under pressure because the bowlers are wondering how to get 20 wickets to win a Test match. Even if you are going to score 400 plus, the Aussies are going to come hard at you and score 500-600 runs. This builds more pressure," he reckoned.

"Players have to adjust to the conditions as soon as possible. A captain should have the right team for the conditions. If the series was played in India, we would have seen a different result.u00a0"You have to always beat the best to be the best. There is no point of winning, scoring century or taking wickets against minnows," said Lara who scored 11,953 Test runs in his distinguished career.

The batting legend from Trinidad stressed that even if Sachin Tendulkar does not get to his 100th international century, he will still be rated as the best. "For me, he has always been the best batsman in the world. I watched him bat in the last four innings and he looked flawless. Even if it (100th international century) doesn't happen, it doesn't make him a lesser player."

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