West Indian captain Brian Lara said the sly remark by Indian coach Greg Chappell that his side had forgotten how to win acted as a catalyst for them in clinching the one-day series in Port of Spain on Friday.

"It was a very sly remark (by Chappell). After the first match, the guys took notice of the statement and we turned the tables," said Lara, basking in a rare series win for his side in front of his home crowd.

West Indies took an unbeatable 3-1 lead after beating India by six wickets in the fourth one-day international.

Chappell, after India secured win in the first game in Jamaica last week, had suggested that the West Indies had forgotten how to win.

"He (Chappell) might have been right, be he has not been right for the last week or so. It's nice to know that the guys have proved him wrong," the Trinidadian said.

Lara felt India were hurt by the absence of their senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

"If Tendulkar was here, it would have meant Rahul Dravid moving down the order. It made a bit of difference. But I still feel if we played the same way, we could have been in the same position even if Tendulkar had come." He disclosed that his squad had worked on every Indian player in the team meetings but the key was to execute it well in the middle.

"We worked on every Indian player, we discussed it thoroughly, their strength and weaknesses.

"In the team meeting (of one and half hours) before this match, I told the boys India have their backs to the walls and they would be desperate to win.

"They would rely on their key players to perform. If we could nullify that and make a contribution from 11 of us, we can make a difference," Lara said.

Lara said Ramnaresh Sarwan's 98 in the second match was the defining moment of the series and not the delivery with which Dwayne Bravo cleaned up Yuvraj Singh.

"If I felt that was the crucial ball, I would have been very upset with the first two (which were hit for fours by Yuvraj).

"(But) I think the 98 by Sarwan gave us a lifeline. It was the most important performance of the series. Looking back at it, we could have been out for 100 or 150. Then there would have been no opportunity." Lara believed his side would still have produced the same result even if he had not been around and leading the side.

"I think if anyone had captained the side, he would have produced the same result.

"In New Zealand, I remember stating that we must look to grab opportunity. But we didn't do it.

"In a way, winning that last one day game against New Zealand, set the tone for us," he said.