The West Indies may not go in as favourites to win the ICC Under-19 World Cup, but Assistant Coach Nikita Miller says they have enough quality to lift the title.

The team is expected to arrive in Africa this week ahead of the three-week 50-over tournament being held in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

It’s the first major tournament for former Jamaica captain and West Indies spinner Miller as assistant coach and he’s relishing the experience.

“I’m honoured to represent West Indies again in a different role,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “This is another way of giving back to an organisation that gave me a lot as well, so I’m really elated, and it’s a dream to represent at this level. I’m looking forward to it.”

The 15-man squad, which includes rising star Jewel Andrew, is heading into the World Cup in good form, having got the better of England and Sri Lanka in their one-day series in August and September, respectively.

Miller says they have a good squad that has the potential to be contenders.

“In the last two years or so I’ve worked with younger players in the West Indies, Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean. What I can say and confirm is that in terms of talent, we do have a lot of talented players,” he said.

“We have that issue where we have to transition to the next level, but at this level, the under-19 and under-15 level, I still believe that we produce good talented players. In terms of the numbers, it might not be as great as it used to be, but we still produce great talent. I’m really looking forward to working with these guys because you have some really talented guys in this bunch, and they’re smart players. Some of them are playing at a regional level for their franchises and so it will really be a good experience working with these guys.”

He says working on the mental side of their game will be important in achieving success.

“They’ll have different sessions with the psychologist or what they call a mental skills coach,” Miller said. “These are some of the sessions that take place just to make sure that they’re in a good space mentally, because we understand that in order to perform at your optimum, you need to be in a good space mentally.

“I think it’s really good for the young players; they’re buying into it. Being around and seeing their reaction to these sessions, it seems as if they’re taking it on board positively.”

In the tournament’s 16 editions, the West Indies have been to two finals, winning the overall title in 2016.

While defending champions Australia and five-time consecutive finalists India have been touted as potential winners of this year’s tournament, Miller says the young Windies squad shouldn’t be taken lightly as they chase the title.

“The objective, obviously, once we go into any competition is to win, this one is no different,” he said. “We’re not going into the tournament thinking that we’re not capable of winning.

“We’ve played against England and won that series, we’ve played against Sri Lanka and won that series leading into this World Cup. There’s no overconfidence, but there’s enough belief and enough confidence around the squad that we can go there and do a good job. Not only do a good job, but win the tournament. It will start from the first game and then we’ll take it game by game after that.”

After their warm-up games against Ireland on Saturday and Japan next Tuesday, the Windies will take on Tanzania, Afghanistan, and South Africa in Group D, with all their games set for Windhoek in Namibia.

The top three will advance to the Super 6 stage where the top two teams from the two groups will advance to the semi-finals.