Ganga just missed out on a Test century in Auckland

The competition will be staged in the Caribbean in 12 months time but the team is currently at a low ebb.

They have lost eight of their last nine Tests and won only three of their last 23 one-day internationals.

"I think we're just a little bit behind the eight-ball at the moment," admitted batsman Daren Ganga.

"But I'm sure we're going to improve from here."

They could have no better chance to do so than in a seven-match series against a raw, inexperienced Zimbabwe side who could only manage a 2-2 draw with Kenya recently.

"With the World Cup in sight, that is a series we can draw a lot of confidence from.

"We need to ensure we get our one-day game right so that we can use that confidence and go straight into the India series," Ganga told BBC World Service Sport.

Windies success 'crucial to Cup'

The chief disappointment of the tour to New Zealand, which ended earlier this week, was their failure to capitalise on good positions, especially in the second one-dayer when they had the Kiwis on 49-5 and the first Test.

"We need to go back over the games we've played, try to break it down and see where we went wrong," said Ganga.

"I think we need to be more mentally tough, a little bit more aware of situations, and (be able to) close things down when we have teams on the back foot."