What now for India? And will West Indies be a force at next year's World Cup?

Samuels' maiden international century inspired West Indies to a massive total of 315 for six and fellow Jamaican Jermaine Lawson took four for 57 as India were dismissed for 180.

The visitors had been reduced to 16 for two after being asked to bat first by India's stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid but Ramnaresh Sarwan (83) and Wavell Hinds (58) rescued the side.

For India, only left-hander Yuvraj Singh put up any resistance with a 69-ball 68 including seven fours and a six.

Where do India go from here? And are West Indies on the up?

This debate is now closed. See below for a selection of your emails.

The Indian bowlers let India down. India must definitely improve its bowling if it wants to win the World Cup. Just look at the bowling line-up of Australia or Pakistan. They are much stronger than their Indian counterparts.

The batting looks pretty good even though they failed miserably in the final match against the West Indies. But I think that the batting is strong. With this ordinary bowling line-up India might even struggle in their tour of New Zealand. Anyway, hope for the best and good luck to India.
Aravind, Chennai, India

India needs to be really strong and supportive to their batsmen/bowlers and play their best in order to win the World Cup. Experiment with a few new bowlers, because other batsmen are having their feel of the same old bowlers every time.

It's worth a try rather than losing. Bring back Ratra into the side. Keep Bangar down in the order with Ratra to build up the lower order.
Mark, USA

Is a 4-3 series defeat so bad! Remember, not so long ago they won the tri-nation in England and shared the ICC Trophy. All the reaction suggests that West Indies were considered pushovers but they played some decent cricket and deserved to win. I don't understand what the fuss is about.
Zeeshan Ihsan, UK

India need to improve their bowling attack and fielding. The top order must be reinforced and not to mention the running between wickets must really improve if India needs to do well against teams like Australia and South Africa.

India must really give a thought to who should keep wickets. An all-rounder is an imperative to give the extra edge. India has the potential but need to deliver the goods when it matters.
Nataraj Koduvayur, Nigeria

Winning on Indian soil doesn't mean you can win the World Cup. Still, India lost that game in a ridiculous manner. What is going on with Indian bowling and fielding? Nobody can find answer for these questions.

India should forget about the World Cup unless they changed their bowling tactics. My team is as follows; Sourav, Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virendar Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvaraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Sahir Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbajan Singh and Murali Kaarthik.

Don't change the players quite so often unless someone is injured. Take Sadagopan Ramesh, Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Sing Sodhi, Sarandeep Singh as reserves. Kick Kumble and Srinath out of the team. Sometimes miracles can happen.
Another angry Indian (Nirmal), Canada

Well, India has been performing consistently well for the past few months and the credit goes to the great teamwork they showed in the Natwest series and ICC World Cup.

Other teams in the world talk about player burn-out and too much of cricket, this holds good for India as well, as they have been playing too much for the past couple of years and all they require now is rest for few weeks to re-charge themselves and we all can see what they can do in the World Cup.
Sharad Srivastav, UK

India cannot win the World Cup with such a useless bowling attack. If these bowlers continue to let the team down then the batsmen must be prepared to chase totals above 300 in all their games in the World Cup.
Sid, Singapore, India

Hats off to the West Indies. I think we have finally turned the corner. With a little more accuracy and consistency Jermaine Lawson will be a force to be reckoned with, and the Jamaican batting foursome of Gayle, Samuels, Hinds and Powell, along with Sarwan, almost makes Lara seem dispensable. Good job Hoops.

India will recover - they have been missing key players for the last two matches, I do not think they should panic.
Delroy Jeffers, St. Maarten Neth Antilles

A huge wake up call for India. West Indies have come out on top, and have set the stage for the World Cup. For India, losing on home soil, against a team that has been trying to get its act together, clearly calls for some introspection.

The Indian team has had a great run in the last few months but there is no place for complacency in cricket. Past precedents have limited use as a predictor for the future.
Amit Arora, USA

The weakness of India in the bowling department is now quite clearly visible. Any opposition will fancy the chances chasing whatever total India makes. The Indian spinners will have a tough time in the World Cup.

On the other hand West Indies are certainly a force to reckon with. They are now a much more balanced side than India.The openers can take any attack successfully. They also have a better bowling line up in Dillon and Lawson.

The only thing they require is an all-rounder, then they can give teams like Australia and South Africa sleepless nights.
Bidhan, Nepal

I don't think it should worry them that much.What happens with New Zealand will be a better indicator because then we will know whether this is becoming a habit or just a bad day.
Mohammad, Canada

West Indies deserved to win after putting in a consistent performance in this series. On India's part you cannot ignore the fact that four of their key players did not play in the last two matches. So, I believe that India's World Cup chances are in good hands.
Ram, USA

India should simply stop playing cricket. Team selection is based on influence more than talent. And the mentality of the players is ridiculous too. If one plays well everyone likes to compete with him and we get two or three centuries in single innings. If the first three batsmen get out quickly the whole team falls down like dry leaves.
Angry Indian, India

The Windies have improved a lot over the past year. South Africa are the clear favourites in the group, but it will be a very even battle between Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the West Indies to fill up the remaining two spots for the Super Six stage.

India clearly missed Zaheer Khan, but that should not be used as an excuse as to why their bowlers continue to concede over 300 runs to the opposition on a regular basis. Their dynamic batting line-up has pulled them out of trouble on a few occasions in the recent past, but as today shows it won't always be the case.

Despite this setback I still expect India to reach the Super Six stage along with Australia and Pakistan, and possibly reach the semi-finals.
Wijdan, Pakistan

Pathetic performance by the Indian bowlers as well as batters.
Pradeep Menon, Kuwait