By Oliver Brett

The batsmen haven't done well over the last eight or nine months Sourav Ganguly

Former skipper Sourav Ganguly, back in India's one-day squad after 16 months on the sidelines, says the team's poor performance in 2006 is irrelevant.

He told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview: "I am a firm believer that doing well in the World Cup has nothing to do with past performances.

"It's all about what you do in the five or six weeks of the tournament."

Ganguly has a tally of four centuries in two World Cups, a record he shares with Mark Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar.

India begin a home series of four one-day internationals against West Indies on 21 January hoping to arrest an alarming set of recent results.

Comprehensive series wins in Pakistan, and then at home to England, were followed by 13 losses in their final 17 matches in 2006.

Their batting has been a problematic area, and the selectors have gone for Ganguly's experience to shore up an unstable top order, with opener Virender Sehwag dropped.

Ganguly said: "I don't really know the reason [for the poor run] because I've not been part of the team for the last year.

"But I am sure the selectors and everybody else is concerned about it and if we get the right side I am sure we can do well.

"We have a good bowling attack, and though the batsmen haven't done well over the last eight or nine months in one-day cricket I'm sure there's enough talent there.