BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — An upbeat 14-member West Indies squad left here Saturday for a tough tour of India, where they will contest five One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals against the hosts.

The series, which runs from January 10-24, will be the first in India for the entire team, but coach Sherwin Campbell said he believed the squad possessed the quality to make a big impact.

“We are confident of doing well… we have a good team and the players are growing and maturing with every match,” said the former West Indies opener.

“We have a good mix of players. We have good all-round strength in the team. We have two of the leading batters in world cricket in Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin.

“We have other batters who showed in matches before that they can perform at the international level so we are confident of building good totals.”

He added: “We also have some quality spinners, as well as seamers who have the ability to get early wickets for us. We are very good in the field and we have a lot of options in all departments. I expect the girls to do very well.”

Taylor and Dottin, both 19-year-olds, will be key for West Indies in the series, especially after their heavy scoring in the ICC Women’s Challenge in South Africa last October.

The side will be captained by Merissa Aguilleira, who was also in charge for the Women’s World Cup in Australia in 2009 and the World Twenty20 Championship last year in the Caribbean.

India, ranked third in the world, will boast a strong side and home advantage, but Campbell backed his charges to continue their recent upward trend.

“We have been making good progress in our cricket and we want to continue along the same line. We know what we have to do,” said Campbell, who played 52 Tests and 90 ODIs between 1994 and 2002.

“The Indian team is a good one and they play well at home, so we will have to play well to get the better of them, we know that. India can be a tough place to play cricket so we must ensure that we hit the ground running.

“We have a few days of training and then we have a warm-up match so we will have some time to get used to the foreign conditions.”

The tour will open with a one-day game against a Board President’s XI on January 8.

Squad — Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Anisa Mohammed (vice-captain), Shemaine Campbelle, Britney Cooper, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Pearl Etienne, Stacy Ann King, Juliana Nero, June Ogle-Thomas, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt, Stafanie Taylor.