India vs. West Indies: Absence of Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle Will Doom Windies

The West Indies will start their five-match ODI series against India on Wednesday, but without the services of stars Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle, the Windies' chances of winning the series appear doomed from the start.

Preparations for the 2015 Cricket World Cup are in full swing, and with the start of that tournament just five months removed, both teams will be looking to make a statement.

For the Windies, that won't be easily done. India are ranked first in the ICC ODI Championship for a reason, via ESPN Cricinfo. The loss of Gayle will hurt, and the star batsman took to Twitter to express his frustration with not being healthy enough to make the team:

With the likes of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and Dwayne Smith, the West Indies have enough explosive batsmen to make up for the loss of the 35-year-old. But consistency remains an issue, and against India's plethora of strong spinners, every single helping hand will be needed.

Speaking of spinners: Narine's absence is the one that will really hurt.

Team manager Richie Richardson believes his squad will adapt and that they have a good chance of beating India, as he told ESPN Cricinfo's Sidharth Monga: "We were positive even without him that we can play well against India and beat India. That's the attitude we have got to adapt."

As reported by the Press Trust of India (for NDTV Sports), the decision to withdraw Narine was made by the West Indies Cricket Board in an attempt to work on his bowling action in preparation of the 2015 World Cup.

Narine was in sensational form during the Twenty20 Champions League, building on his spectacular Indian Premier League campaign for Kolkata Knight Riders. It wasn't a huge surprise when Bleacher Report's Tim Collins named him his bowler of the month for September.

He's not just the Windies' best spinner—he's the best spin bowler in the world. He knows the Indian pitches well from playing in the IPL, and with Indian pitches being notoriously kind to spinners, his presence was a major asset for the team.

Sulieman Benn will be his replacement, but the 33-year-old giant hasn't played limited-overs cricket for West Indies in years. With the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar lining up for India, it'll be a tall task for Benn to contain such a fierce group of batsmen.

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja and Amit Mishra give the hosts a tremendous advantage when it comes to bowling, making West Indies' challenge of beating the top nation in the ODI format that much harder.

Bleacher Report's Antoinette Muller doesn't like the Windies' chances: "On paper, India are very much the stronger team. The West Indies have been lackluster over the last few months, and while they do have some talented players they have not always performed to their full potential."

West Indies and India will take to the pitch in Kochi on Wednesday, and fans will immediately find out how this lineup holds up without Gayle and Narine against the favoured hosts.

Don't expect the result to be much different from the three-match series the two teams played in November 2013, however, with India once again emerging as the clear winners.

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