Dravid serene on youth

Six of India's 15-man squad for the March 13-April 28 event in the Caribbean will be making their debut in the tournament, including three of the five-man pace attack.

Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth plus wicketkeepers Mahendra Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik and top-order batsman Robin Uthappa are due to play in their first World Cup.

"It is not something that we have to be fearful about," Dravid said.

"My message to the boys is to look upon it as a challenge, a great opportunity, and try and give our best."

India, the 1983 winners, were runners-up in the last edition in South Africa. They are placed in Group B with 1996 champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda.

Back-to-back home one-day series victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka in recent weeks have raised the World Cup hopes of India's cricket-mad fans.