'Wish my senior players had same hunger as senior statesman Sachin'

Disappointed after his side crashed out of the World Cup with a 10-wicket defeat against Pakistan, West Indies coach Ottis Gibson Wednesday said he wished the senior players of his team had the same hunger on the field as Sachin Tendulkar, whom he described as the 'senior statesman' of the Indian team.

Gibson also indicated that the positions of some of the seniors in the Caribbean team could be under threat as 'we are having the same set of players playing for the last ten years... I think the time has come for some serious decisions.'

Refering to Tendulkar, he said: 'If you look at India, Sachin is such a senior player. For years he has been there. He still has the hunger. He is the senior statesman of the team. Juniors look up to him. I want my seniors also to have the same kind of hunger.'

However, he ruled out replacing Darren Sammy as West Indies skipper. 'I don't expect a change of leadership. He did not set himself up to be captain. Because of some circumstances he took up the captain's role. He is doing his best.'

Gibson said a combination of poor batsmanship and low confidence levels had resulted in the side losing out so comprehensively to Pakistan in the quarterfinal at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium Wednesday.

'West Indies boys don't have the belief in themselves. Our best batters have not batted consistently,' he said.

With skipper Shahid Afridi picking up four wickets, Pakistan bundled out the West Indies for 112 and then coasted to 113 without losing any wicket to sail into the semifinal.

'We are very very disappointed. We stumbled into the quarterfinal after good performances against Ireland, the Netherlands and Bangladesh. But still we could not do well against the big boys,' said Gibson, alluding to his team's defeats against South Africa, England and India.

Asked about the gains from the tournament, he said the World Cup has been rewarding for some of the younger players.

Gibson said he was now looking forward to the upcoming home series against Pakistan. 'We need to take serious decisions about the squad before the series.'

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