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Lara tips will come in handy: Chigumbura

The Northamptonshire batsman, 24, and his national teammates can now call upon a wealth of knowledge garnered over the former Windies skipper’s 15-year career, with Lara installed as their batting consultant.

That vast memory bank of experience out in the middle should be very handy too as Alan Butcher’s squad gear up for the testing challenges and conditions that await on the Indian subcontinent.

“We’re just trying to get as much information as we can from him,” the Kwekwe-born cricketer said.

“He has obviously played a lot and is an experienced player from the past, so you just have to try and learn from what he brings to the team.

“We’re learning a lot and we’re still doing so. We have to learn from Lara while he is still here and, hopefully, we’ll make use of him when we go to India.”

Chigumbura echoed sentiments expressed by coach Butcher at yesterday’s press conference at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai Sports City that they’re out to win as many games as they can in Group A.

Belief seemingly then is high in the camp as they go through their final-phase preparations at a state-of-the-art facility.

“Everyone is positive and getting ready to face the first game (versus Australia at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on 21 February). Hopefully, we’ll just hit the ground running,” he explained.

“If we play our best cricket, that obviously will be a positive. We plan to take every game seriously and we’ll try and win at every opportunity. The quarter-finals are our target.” He added: “It’s a good thing that we’ve come through to this country to try and do all we can before we go to India.

“It’s a world-class academy. You just have make use of it and we will do with any luck.”

Spin bowling is expected to be a key facet of this tournament, along with the ability to post high scores, but Chigumbura stressed the importance of all three aspects of the game performed in tandem.

“It’s a case of both batting and bowling as, if you do those two things better than the other team, you win the game most of the time,” he commented.

“You might have good spinners, but if you don’t have batters who will set the target, then the spinners will end up being of no use.”

Meanwhile, Chigumbura admitted he was looking forward to wearing the armband and leading his country out against the best the world has to offer, adding: “I’m very proud as it’s an honour to lead any side.

“I’ll make use of it and, hopefully, there will be even more positives coming from the World Cup.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com