But two years on and the Caribbean calypso still resembles more of a slow waltz.

Crushed by Australia in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur last month and still dogged by bitterness over contracts and selection procedures, Lara, in his third spell as skipper, believes his team can be a force in India despite having to play in the qualifying tournament.

"I see it as a good way of going into the tournament," said Lara whose side have to face Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh before the serious business gets underway.

"Australia, England, and Pakistan will arrive for their first game, but we will already have had three games going in. That's a slight plus."

Lara, who threatened to quit in July in a row over selection, took some comfort from seeing his side beat both Australia and India during the Kuala Lumpur tournament.

But he knows that others in the team have to start taking the pressure off himself as well as fellow senior players Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

"I think Dwayne Smith -- we just need to get his batting together," he said. "You can see he's a power-hitter, but we need to get him to spend more time in the middle. I think (fast bowler) Jerome Taylor improved as the tournament progressed. We've got five or six in and around form. There are other players we have to massage and get together. I still believe in them."

Lara has an extra incentive to do well in India as he needs just 179 more runs to become just the fifth player to make 10,000 one-day runs.

It has been a curious year for West Indies cricket.

They lost a home Test series to India for the first time in 35 years but clinched the one-dayers 4-1. They also cruised to a 5-0 one-day win over hapless Zimbabwe.

Coach Bennett King is making positive noises and believes the fitness levels of his players will be crucial in India.

"Our fitness is very good at the moment, the physical side of the boys is quite strong going into the tournament," King said.

But there are worries over fast bowler Corey Collymore, who only played one game in Malaysia due to a muscle injury in his right thigh.

"Corey is improving everyday and we have no doubt that he will be firing on all cylinders," King said.

"At the camp we've been concentrating a lot on our batting," King said.

"Because of the tournament in Malaysia we need to spend more time on the part of the game that we were weakest and that's the batting.