Emotional Lara looks to close the deal

An expectedly elated Brian Lara has said he is happy to go to Trinidad with a 2-1 lead in the series and hopes that he could sign off on a winning note at the Queen's Park Oval. Lara felt that the forthcoming two games could be the last time he played a ODI on his home ground and was keen to wrap up the series on Friday itself.

"I do feel it's my last two one-day internationals in Trinidad &Tobago," he said at the post-match press conference. "I don't think there's anything for us in the World Cup, so I'm looking forward to winning on Friday and enjoying Sunday. I don't think I'll be wearing these colours [pointing to the maroon T-shirt] again at the Queen's Park Oval. It's going to be exciting, it's going to be momentous for me and I think it's going to be good for the team if we can pull off a victory as early as Friday."

Lara hailed his side for coming from one down and taking the lead, adding that closer games helped his side to experience pressure situations. "After losing the first one in Jamaica we got a bit behind the eight ball," he continued. "But I thought the guys showed a lot of character. The three one-day internationals we've played so far, I'm sure the West Indian people must be happy with our performance. It's exciting cricket. I know it's [coverage] going back to India and other places around the world and we've shown that we've got the character.

"But as I said we're not taking anything for granted. We set a target, India didn't get it; we chased a target down today. So they must be a little bit more confused now. Deciding to bat today, I thought, was something against the norm for India, especially looking at their record. So we do have them thinking, which is important ... I feel it's better to get these close results rather than beat a team by a huge margin. It shows the guys what it is to play under that kind of pressure and I think we're going to learn more from it."

The fact that West Indies were in the lead despite Lara not going past 35 in any of the three games, pleased him. "I love that. I don't want it to start depending on Sarwan now," he continued. "Chris played well, as did Chanderpaul. It's also important that we see some inexperienced or younger players, ones who are tossing up for a spot in the team, come forward and make a name for themselves. Sarwan, as we know, is someone who is there in the team and you expect him, me, Gayle, Chanderpaul ... to do it. But we expect Bravo, Morton and Marlon Samuels to come forward and produce something that's going to benefit the team.

"It's important that the guys have moved away from a Brian Lara-scenario and we're seeing guys performing and winning games. It's healthy for me as well, knowing that I need to get back in there. Because what I want to see in four to six months time is that I don't want to see the captain being in a comfortable position. In-house competition is important."