Indian team has good 'all-round' strength: Clive Lloyd
Former West Indies captain and chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd have said that this Indian team side has "all-round strength" with players like in-form Shikhar Dhawan and the ever-consistent Virat Kohli. Lloyd mentioned that he is impressed with the ‘variety’ of Indian bowling and praised MS Dhoni's men, who seem to be ticking all the boxes in this ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
"It's nearly the same sort of side. India's pace bowling seems to be pretty good and you have a good spin bowler in (Ravichandran) Ashwin. Overall you have got a good variety and I think India have good all-round strength," Llyod said during West Indies training session on Monday.
"India's middle order is pretty good. Kohli has been excellent for you guys. Dhoni can do anything anytime. A good all-round side is the reason why you've been champions. I'm sure they want to be there in the end," Lloyd said while addressing Indian journalists.
India's always a formidable side: Lloyd
Lloyd showered accolades on Kohli by saying that he has been tremendous for India for the last two years and also praised Dhawan’s form. The 70-year old said that they can’t fault on India’s bowling or batting and mentioned that India is always a formidable side, he said
"Kohli has been a tremendous player over the last two years and now you have the likes of Dhawan coming through. I think India should do well. They've won three out of three. So we can't fault their bowling or their batting. India's always a formidable side and they'll continue to be so. But when you set a standard, people expect you to keep that standard all the time. India are doing well, but I hope they don't do too well on Friday,"
When asked about whether the Indians will find it difficult to handle Carribean pace attack, he said,
"I don't know. It all depends on the day's cricket. You have good cricketers and I'm sure they have played against very pacy bowlers. They will be able to combat anything that is thrown at them. One-day cricket is who plays well on the day and gets their disciplines right.”
"If we do that, we give them a good run for their money. They're defending champions and they want to be in this World Cup as long as possible. It's obvious that this game is important to us and to you (India) for that matter. We want to do well and if we play to our ability we'll be able to do so."