KARACHI, Dec 17: West Indies skipper Brian Lara still has great hopes for his team at next year's World Cup despite losing the Test and one-day series in Pakistan.

Lara said in a statement on Sunday that although his team had not ended the tour on a good note, it would not affect their preparations for the World Cup in the Caribbean.

West Indies were beaten 2-0 in the Tests and 3-1 in the one-day rubber.

“We were missing key players (Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo). But the guys who went on the field did give their best it was tough and you have to take into consideration we have been on the road for a pretty long time,” Lara said.

Lara said some promising young players had emerged with four months to go before the start of the World Cup.

“I think we are taking a good shape and once we get our key players back we can move away from the Pakistan tour and do well in the World Cup,” he said.

He pointed out that West Indies had won one-day games against good teams over the year. They beat India at home in a one-day series and made the finals of the DLF Cup in Malaysia and the Champions Trophy in India.

“We won games against very good teams, we got to two finals and again we faltered over the last hurdle but the fact that we got there (to the final) is enough for us to work with,” Lara said.

“I think in the one-day game we are going to enter the World Cup a very confident unit.”

—Reuters