NEW DELHI, May 18: Viv Richards believes Brian Lara's appointment as West Indies captain for a third term is purely a commercial move ahead of the World Cup being staged in the Caribbean in March-April next year.

However, the batting great and former West Indies skipper believes the struggling home team can offer a stiff test to the touring India side, who are eyeing their first major test series victory outside the sub-continent for two decades.

“While the hosts are busy using this (India tour) as a dry run for the game's biggest showpiece, West Indian cricket continues to spring one surprise after the other,” Richards wrote in a syndicated column on Thursday ahead of the home series against India.

“The latest one has been the choice of Brian Lara as captain,” he added. “Clearly, it is a decision prompted by commercial considerations, keeping in mind the World Cup. It is also a decision that might last only till that tournament, and chances are that Lara's appointment was not a very popular decision among the players.”

Richards, however, did add that the decision could have been forced due to the absence of any suitable candidate for the job.

The 37-year-old Lara took over after Shivnarine Chanderpaul resigned following a disastrous tour of New Zealand, where the touring lost the three-test series 2-0 and the one-dayers 4-1.

Chanderpaul had himself taken over early last year after Lara quit over a contracts dispute with the board.

Lara, among the finest batsmen in the history of the game, had been choosy in playing one-day cricket, but led the home team in all the games during last week's 5-0 sweep against Zimbabwe, displaying his keenness to play in the World Cup at home.

The West Indies board chairman Ken Gordon had given a vote of confidence to Lara after his appointment in April.—Reuters