Farahanaaz S Dastur for NDTV

Mumbai, May 12: The Indian team left for a 55-day tour of the West Indies on Thursday night with an aim to re-write the history books.

Rahul Dravid's men will have a chance to do what no Indian team has done in the past 34 years, which is to win a Test series on the Caribbean soil.

Going by the recent form of both the teams, India will definitely start as the favourites, but Dravid has warned his side not to take things too lightly.

Beginning with the one-day series, this tour has gained even more importance since many are viewing it as a preview to the next year's World Cup.

While the captain acknowledges that it will be a great opportunity for the youngsters to a get a feel of the world cup venues, the main aim is to do well in this series and not look too much at the future.

"Whatever experience we get from this tour will be beneficial. We are going there to win the series, not to prepare for the World Cup, which will only co-incidentally be held there," said Rahul Dravid, Captain, Indian Cricket Team.

Erasing bad memories

In the recent past, India has performed much better in ODIs than in Tests and undoubtedly they will be looking to set that record straight by doing well in both forms of the game.

The Indian skipper, who is only one of four players to have visited the West Indies before, has some bad memories to erase from India’s last tour to the Caribbean in 2002.

After 19 years, India had won a Test series outside the sub-continent in Zimbabwe, but it was against a team, which was highly inexperienced and much weaker than the Indian side.

This tour will give them the opportunity to win a series outside the subcontinent against a competitive side after 20 years.