West Indies coach Phil Simmons told his team patience will be decisive in their four-Test series against India.

Simmons' team are preparing for their first five-day series since losing 2-0 to Australia in December and January.

Ahead of the first Test starting Thursday in Antigua, Simmons said persevering with bat and ball would be crucial against India – ranked second in the world.

"We tend to get bored of bowling in one place and doing well and not getting wickets so we try something," he told a news conference.

"We're going to harp on being patient and do the things we're doing well continuously so then we'll get the wickets and the same thing with batting.

"You battle on and you stick around and you work hard and you'll get the just reward at the end."

West Indies are without paceman Jerome Taylor, who retired from the five-day format earlier this month.

Simmons acknowledged the absence of the 32-year-old would make things harder for his team.

"He will be missed because he's the most experienced fast bowler we have and he'll be missed definitely," he said.

"His experience, his ability to get wickets, the last Test match in the Caribbean he got six-for so he'll definitely be missed."

As for India, ranked six spots above the Windies, Simmons knows just what they are capable of.

He said: "Whether they think they're well prepared or not, India is one of the dangerous sides in the world.

"Their batting line-up alone tells you that they're dangerous and that it's going to be a hard Test series.

"We haven't played four Test matches back-to-back for a long time so that too is going to make it even harder. We're going to try and do our best in every Test match."