When egos get in the way of winning.

The recently concluded cricket test series between West Indies and India, on West Indies home turf brings out everything good for the Indian team who won the series.

The win gave India a 1-0 victory in the four-Test series, after the first three Tests at the Antigua Recreation Ground, the Beausejour Cricket Ground, and Warner Park all ended in draws.

It also provided India with a series victory in the Caribbean for the first time in 35 years, only their second series triumph in the Caribbean in nine trips, and their first win at a ground in the Caribbean outside of Port of Spain.

Compared to Indian Captain Rahul Dravid's performance and leadership, West Indian team was in disarray. Brian Lara who took over the captaincy only recently performed poorly and worse by his public outburst against the team selection criteria and state of the pitch did not bode well for his leadership responsibilty.

It is understandable that he would have been extremely frustrated in the aftermath of India's series-clinching victory inside three days in the fourth and final Test in Kingston. Yet, as much as he may have justifiable cause for complaint about selection and pitch preparation among the many other ills in the regional game, to reinforce those points in the immediate aftermath of defeat leaves the impression that Lara is fishing for excuses.

In the past, Lara has shown an almost unparalleled ability to build massive innings, and holds several world records for high scoring. He has the highest individual score in both first-class cricket (501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994) and Test cricket (400 not out for the West Indies against England in 2004).

Lara has taken over the captaincy for the third time and although he is regarded as one of the world's best batsman, in reality his career has been bedevilled by clashes with authority, injury and loss of form.

In March 2005, Lara, along with six other senior players, was dropped by the West Indies Cricket Board from the West Indies team over their personal Cable & Wireless sponsorship deals, which clashed with the Cricket Board's main sponsor, Digicel. Happily for Lara's fans, the issue was resolved and he returned to test cricket.