Windies face India challenge

West Indies and India commence a three-match One-Day International series in Trinidad on Friday with the visitors, even without their most prominent players, favoured to get the better of a struggling home side.

Fresh from a 2-1 series triumph in England, the Indians have opted to rest regular captain Rohit Sharma, key batter Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for this assignment.

The mega stars' absence has presented an opportunity for eager fringe players to shine at the expense of a team that was swept 3-0 by Bangladesh in Guyana last week.

West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran complained about both the quality of pitches against the Bangladeshis at Providence and the early start time which he felt conspired to favour the team bowling first too heavily for there to be an even contest.

"We have players quite capable of batting for long periods but we need to get it together and hold strong," said West Indies coach Phil Simmons.

All three ODI's will be played at Queen's Park Oval after which the teams switch format but stay in Trinidad for the first T20 International at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.

From there it's on to St Kitts for two games before the five-match series concludes in the United States with two fixtures at Lauderhill in Florida.