Skipper Rahul Dravid on Saturday played down suggestions that India went into the upcoming tour of the West Indies as the favourites, saying such soothsaying had turned out to be wrong on previous visits.
"The West Indies are a difficult team to beat at home. We need to play really well if we have to win the series. People said the same thing during our last two tours, that we had a great chance. I think they will be a very good and competitive team," the Indian skipper said.
India are to play five one-dayers and four Tests on the upcoming tour from May 18 to July 4.
They have not won a series in the Caribbean after the historic 1-0 triumph under Ajit Wadekar in 1971. They lost 0-1 in the five-Test series played in 1997 and then 1-2 on the next and last visit in 2002.
Dravid said it was imperative that India play well right through the series, which they didn't do in the last two visits.
"We need to play good cricket right through the tour. I think we played good cricket in patches on the last two tours. We had our opportunities," the captain told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event for 'Bank of Baroda'.
{{/usCountry}}"We need to play good cricket right through the tour. I think we played good cricket in patches on the last two tours. We had our opportunities," the captain told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event for 'Bank of Baroda'.
{{/usCountry}}On playing against Brian Lara, who has been appointed captain of the West Indies for the third time, Dravid said he was looking forward to the face-off against his rival-cum-teammate.
"Brian (Lara) has always been a great and phenomenal player. Obviously he's got knowledge and idea of the game."