By KERN RAMLOCHAN Sunday, September 5 2010

OPENING batsman Adrian Barath believes that the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka in November is crucial for the success of the team at the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup to be played on the Indian subcontinent.

The West Indies will play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches before returning to the Caribbean. Matches for the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup will be played in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

“The tour of Sri Lanka will be important for the West Indies team and myself. Firstly, I need to be on the team for the Sri Lanka tour but this series will play a significant role in our World Cup campaign.

“It will help us get familiar with the conditions we will be playing on at the World Cup and we will get a preview of some of the players we will be coming up against,” said Barath on Friday. The West Indies are in Group “B” with Netherlands, Ireland, England, South Africa, India and Bangladesh while Group “A” consists of Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.

“It is my dream to play at a World Cup and I know the hype of it is very massive. I played at the Under-19 World Cup and it was a tremendous experience. Also playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and knowing the passion the people in India have for cricket I would love to be part of the World Cup team,” revealed Barath.

“We need to bring back as much as we can from the Sri Lanka tour. At this time I am not sure if we are having a camp for the World Cup but we will have to discuss different strategies and the things we learnt on tour,” Barath said.

The Kings XI Punjab player felt that a great deal could be learnt about the conditions in Sri Lanka during the Test matches which would have a huge part in a successful World Cup performance.

“People might think the Test matches would not be important when you look at preparation in context for the World Cup. I think the Test matches will be vital, especially for the West Indies team who have not been doing well in recent times.

“Any win for us will boost our confidence. The West Indies is better in 50 over or Twenty20 cricket and Test win will improve our confidence. Winning is the only thing that can bring the team closer. Also the bowlers will get accustommed to the flat tracks and this experience should prove beneficial,” said Barath.

The Trinidad and Tobago batsman recently returned to competitive cricket at the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament after recovering from a knee injury sustained at the IPL. He finished with 173 runs, the most in the competition at an average of 57.66 with a top score of 66 not out in the opening match against Canada.

“It was great returning to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the regional Twenty20 tournament. To finish with most runs in the tournament was good and even though it is Twenty20 cricket there is still a great deal of batsmanship that is required.

“It was good to be back playing cricket and it was unfortunate that we did not qualify for the Airtel Champions League. It was a tournament I had on my calendar and I was looking forward to playing in with the national team,” said Barath.