Dhaka, Mar 24 (PTI) West Indies coach Ottis Gibson was severely critical of his senior players and said that they should learn a thing or two about shouldering responsibility from iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
"A lot of people need to look at somebody like Tendulkar who is a sort of senior statesman in the Indian team but he seems to be the hungriest guy of the lot," Gibson told reporters after his team's 10-wicket defeat against Pakistan.
"Therefore he gets runs almost every time he goes out to bat. India still rely on him. We need to rely on our senior players the way India rely on him."
Making no bones about the inconsistency of his team that saw them surrender meekly in Mirpur yesterday, Gibson hinted that some of the senior players may face the axe.
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"We are very very disappointed with our performance," the coach said. "It's a fact that our senior players have not performed. When the going got tough, we did not stand up to it," Gibson told the reporters.
"It comes down to individuals taking responsibility and having belief in themselves. Ultimately, it comes down to performance, that's what matters in sport. Our best batsmen have not performed consistently well enough for us to move forward," he fumed.
Star opener Chris Gayle managed just 170 runs in the tournament, Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 114, Ramnaresh Sarwan just 115 and big-hitter Kieron Pollard scored 180.
Gibson warned tough stand may be taken ahead of a home Test and one-day series against Pakistan starting next month.
"We have some time to reflect between now and then. There will be some serious decisions to be made about players and about the way forward in that time. We still need some senior players in there. Guys who still have the hunger and desire to do well at the highest level," the coach said.
The West Indies were reduced to 71-8 before a 40-run stand between Kemar Roach and Chanderpaul helped them surpass their lowest World Cup total of 93 against Kenya in Pune in 1996.
The West Indies have now lost 19 successive matches against the leading nations, but Gibson would not attribute the latest defeat to the slow wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
"The wicket did not get anybody out," the former fast bowler said. "It was not a bad wicket at all. It was a combination of poor batsmanship and perhaps very low confidence." PTI
