West Indian captain Brian Lara will be hoping that, come April 28, his team will be there at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados,  to battle for cricket’s biggest prize.

Winning the World Cup would be a fitting tribute to a man who has held the West Indies team together through troubled times for over a decade. Lara will be among a string of stalwarts who will never be seen in a World Cup again.
Those who will leave the World Cup stage reads like a Who’s Who of world cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Saurav Ganguly, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shaun Pollock and possibly Stephen Fleming, Mohammed Yousuf and Michael Vaughan will never grace a World Cup again.
So let’s savour them while we can. These are the greats of cricket who have given so much joy over the years. And all of them will surely make that one big last effort which will make it a memorable exit.
Lara certainly deserves a fitting swansong. Though much maligned for his selfish attitude, Lara always had the interest of West Indies cricket at heart.
There was a time when Lara was battling the cobwebs of his mind. But since taking over the captaincy recently, Lara has tried his best to bring back the glory days to West Indies cricket.
The task has been difficult at most times. The West Indians went into the doldrums after their dominance of the late 70s and 80s and never seemed to have recovered.
A bunch of talented individuals let their game drift into inadequacy. Promises were never realised and hope changed to despair regularly.
Lara has always remained optimistic about his young team and has, more often than not, led by example. The West Indians have made a good start to the World Cup with a fine win over Pakistan and they need to continue the good work, at least for Lara’s sake.
Though Lara hopes to continue in Tests, he will never be seen in a one-day match again. The elegance, control and sheer genius of Lara will be missed.
There have been question marks raised about the ability of Tendulkar to score runs as heavily as he did throughout his career. There may be some justification in the allegation, but Tendulkar may yet have the last laugh.
It seems that Tendulkar is a confused individual at the moment. He has abandoned his free-scoring style for a more measured approach and this has not gone down well with some of his fans. May be it’s the added responsibility of being a senior player or his age which is responsible.
But there is no doubting that highest run-getter in one-day cricket has sound technique to back his immense talent. In an improved Indian side, Tendulkar may be allowed to bat freely as he once did. If he does that, then the opposition better watch out.
Tendulkar’s former opening partner Ganguly will also never play a World Cup again. The dashing left-hander has made a successful comeback into the Indian team and is a form player at the moment.
Dravid was once considered not fit to play one-day cricket by the selectors because they felt he batted too slowly. But over the years, Dravid has proved them totally wrong and is one of the best one-day players today.
McGrath will be hoping that he gets the new ball once again before the tournament is over. The Australian paceman already made his mark with a superb spell in the opening encounter against Scotland.
This will be the last time McGrath will be seen on the world stage as he will retire completely after the tournament. However, Gilchrist is still keen to play for a while but this World Cup will be the last one.
Like Gilchrist, Jayasuriya will never be seen again. Both batsmen have been a treat to watch for their brutal batting. And there is every chance that both will make their last appearances count.
The wily Muralitharan will hope to maintain the high standard he sets himself and if the new wickets in the West Indies are conducive to spin, then he will carry Sri Lanka’s hopes with him.
Pollock is the meanest bowler in the world when it comes to economy rates. Though he has lost some of the zip which made him lethal, Pollock’s nagging accuracy has made him a top ranked one-day bowler.
Pollock has rediscovered his form and is a vital clog in the South African line-up. With the South Africans now ranked number one in the world, Pollock will try his best to help his team erase the bad memories of the previous editions of the World Cup.
Nothing would make Pollock feel better than winning the World Cup before walking away into the sunset.

Cup of champs
Babu Kalyanpur