Brian Lara has seen it all before, so he's not in a panic.
More than three decades after winning the first World Cup, the West Indies finally gets to host cricket's quadrennial showpiece.
And while Lara considers a terrible batting collapse and a nine-wicket loss to India in its last warmup match as a setback, he does not think it will harm the West Indies squad's chances.
"This is a team that over the past few years has beaten everyone else and we have played some very good cricket, but we have been unpredictable," Lara told a news conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on the eve of the opening ceremony.
Critical
Media outlets across the Caribbean were highly critical in the wake of the West Indies' loss.
"Part-time cricketers would not have embarrassed themselves in the manner as the West Indies professionals did," the Nation newspaper in Barbados said.
The Jamaica Gleaner described it, simply, a "Shocker."
Lara acknowledges that the West Indies are prone to be erratic, but took exception to his squad being dubbed "laissez-faire."
``I don't think people should be so sarcastic about this team and I don't agree about laissez-faire," he said. "I am confident we will bounce back in the competition."
Bundled out
After getting bundled out for 85 against India, "We talked about getting our act together," Lara said. "We tend to be unpredictable, this was not a one-off and it is something we are trying to stamp out."
After their big win, the India squad had the day off on Saturday and went sightseeing around Montego Bay.
The squads from South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka flew into Jamaica, where rehearsals were held for yesterday's opening ceremony.
The tournment's organizers confirmed that West Indies' legendary allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers would officially open the World Cup at Trelawny.
They also said that all 10,000 tickets had been sold for the three-hour event being billed as "West Indian Energy."
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