West Indies World Cup 2015 profile: Past champions look to recapture glory days

Coach: Stuart Williams

ICC World Ranking: 8

Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.

Fixtures: Ireland (16 February), Pakistan (21 February), Zimbabwe (24 February), South Africa (27 February), India (6 March), UAE (15 March).

Overview: West Indies will come into the tournament hoping to recreate some of their historical past, which saw them win the two inaugural World Cup's and lose in the final of the third. They have since been in decline managing a semi-final appearance just once since the 1983 final loss to India and that was way back in 1996.

The current team, despite the absence of Kieran Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, has a good mix of youth and experience, but the youngsters will have to perform above their usual level to make an impact against more experienced teams.

Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith will be key, when it comes to giving the team good starts, with Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels the experienced figures in their middle order. Their bowling is relatively inexperienced but the likes of Andre Russel and Kemar Roach can match up to the best in the tournament when it comes to their pace. The pitches in New Zealand and Australia should be conducive to their bowling style as well.

World Cup History: West Indies have won the World Cup on two occasions in 1975 and 1979, but have since made the semi-final just once. The current crop will hope to emulate their past heroes and bring back the joy of winning a World Cup to the island nation.

Prediction: West Indies should make it to the knockout phases owing to the presence of Afghanistan, Ireland, UAE and Zimbabwe in the group, but their fixtures with the more experienced teams in the group will determine their opposition in the next round.