West Indies looking toothless without Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine

New Delhi: The touring side West Indies will kick-off their campaign from Wednesday when they play the first ODI against MS Dhoni & Co at Nehru Stadium, Kochi.

But in the absence of their two world-class players - swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle and mystery spinner Sunil Narine - the Caribbean side is looking toothless.

If lower-back injury forced Gayle to quit the five-match ODI series, then West Indian authorities pulled out Narine of the tour, when his action was reported twice in the recently-concluded Champions League Twenty20.

Especially, at a time when few of the Indian players – Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan -- will look to make it up for the poor England series, it would be a herculean task for the tourists to shock the home team in the limited over format.

In fact, fringe players like Murali Vijay, Amit Misha and Ambati Rayudu will also try to impress the selectors before the all important tour Down Under, which is just ahead of the 2015 World Cup. And it will make the task even harder for the Dwayne Bravo-led side.

If West Indies want to give India some fight in the series, senior pros like Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul will have to stand and deliver, every time their team needs them.

During their Indian sojourn, West Indies is scheduled to play five ODIs, one-off T20 and three Tests, which will last for more than a month.