The Indian team sports a distinctly depleted look in absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan.

After arriving in the West Indies from England along with Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Xavier Marshall, Gayle said India may be without some of the star players but West Indies would do well not to take them lightly.

"We have to stick to the game plan"

"It is never a walkover against India. There are a lot of guys still there to give us a lot of trouble, so we just have to stick to the game plan and make it a successful one," Gayle said.

The hosts themselves have seen quite a few changes in their squad with pace spearhead Fidel Edwards missing the tournament with a back injury.

"The Indians are a very good one-day team and while they may be without a couple of their players, they will prove to be a handful for us," Sarwan said.

"But we are in good form and have confidence in our abilities and hopefully, beginning Friday, we can get a good start to the series," added Sarwan.

"I am hitting the ball well"

On his personal form, the right-hander said, "I don't think I have too much problem with my form, it's just unfortunate in the Twenty20 game you don't have too much overs.

But apart from that, I am pretty confident and I am hitting the ball well."

Gayle, meanwhile, was proud of the West Indies' performance in the Twenty20 World Cup even though he rued not advancing beyond the semifinals.

"It was a pretty decent performance. We tried our best but in the end it was not to be. But I am not disheartened.