Charles replaces injured Bravo for Windies

West Indies have been allowed to call-up Johnson Charles to replace batsman Darren Bravo who was ruled out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury. Charles, a 26-year-old top order batsman, has played 30 ODIs in which he has scored 869 runs with two centuries and as many half-centuries. His last ODI was against New Zealand in Hamilton in January 2014. Bravo suffered a left hamstring injury in the 150-run win over Pakistan in Christchurch last weekend. West Indies have won two and lost two of their four matches so far and next play defending champions India in Perth on March 6.

Windies positive before India game: Holder

West Indies captain Jason Holder said they are confident of making the quarterfinals and urged his side to quickly forget the thrashing they received at the hands of South Africa and concentrate on their next game against India. “Going forward, we need to go against India with full confidence. We need to put it (loss to South Africa) behind us as quickly as possible, but we need to look at the errors we made and look for ways to improve,” the 23-year-old seamer said.

India favourite to retain World Cup: Bhutia

Hailing Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the best skipper, former football ace Bhaichung Bhutia on Saturday exuded confidence that the Indian team will defend the World Cup. “Under Dhoni, we have won Twenty20 and 50-over World Cups. Hopefully, they will do it again. India are the favourites,” said the former India football captain. “Dhoni is surely the best captain India have ever had. I think he’s going to win the World Cup this time as well,” said Bhutia. — Agencies