5 reasons why India might send a second string squad for West Indies tour

#3 West Indies not a major threat anymore

West Indies are currently languishing at ninth in the ODI rankings

In the olden days, the primary thought of touring the Caribbean was accompanied by the inevitable prospect of having to face a menacing battery of fast bowlers. However, since the turn of the millennium, West Indies have continued to plummet deeply into a seemingly endless abyss. Their woes have aggravated to such an extent that they failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy for the first time in history.

No longer the force they used to be, their previous ODI series victory against a traditional powerhouse (excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) came in 2012 when New Zealand were ambushed by a 4-1 margin. More pertinently, the last time they defeated India in an ODI series (including both home and away matches) was way back in 2006. With West Indies languishing amongst the bottom ranked teams, India can certainly utilise the tour to experiment.