Ganga: Lara not a team player

In a story posted on noted cricket website Cricinfo.com yesterday, Ganga was quoted as saying that Lara needed to improve on his relationships with his fellow players.

"He is not a team player," Ganga said.

"The records show that when he (Lara) plays, other players struggle. And I don’t think he is much of a team player in terms of what happens in the dressing-room."

"A caring sort of attitude is something he can work on and strengthen, in terms of wanting you to do well."

He added: "Especially as a captain, I think you must be a good leader of men, and a good motivator. I think that when it comes to human relationships, he has a lot to learn."

Ganga’s side lost the final unofficial Test of the three-match series on Sunday when they went down to Sri Lanka A by four wickets.

The 26-year old right hander was one of several A-team players who took a stand of solidarity with the senior players in refusing to sign match/tour contracts for the senior two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Despite criticising Lara however, Ganga said he was indebted to the mercurial left hander for helping him in his career.

"He was one-on-one with me, in terms of giving me advice, in terms of letting me know how exactly it was going to be at the highest level, giving me that sort of motivation and determination to want to play," Ganga explained.

"He allowed me the opportunity to get into the Trinidad team. Soon after I started performing, I got the opportunity to play for West Indies while he was captain."

"On my first tour of South Africa, he saw talent there, he saw potential and he just wanted me to maximise that. I would say as my career progressed and I started doing well, he sort of took a back seat in terms of what he said to me."

He added: "But as captain you need to express yourself, you need to encourage your players, you need to show selflessness. In that aspect, he could be a little bit better."

"But I understand that he has got a lot to take on as well, so I don’t really necessarily look forward to him coming to me and sharing his words of advice.

Nobody would go to him, but generally speaking he has been good to me and I do hope I can learn a lot more from him."