The West Indies may be defending holders of the Champions Trophy but they have slipped so low in one-day standings that they have to play a qualifying round to advance in this year's competition.
West Indies captain Brian Lara said they have only themselves to blame for not being among the top six who qualify automatically.
"It's a bit unfortunate but we found ourselves in that predicament," he told BBC Sport.
"We've got to try [to] sort this first part of the tournament out and [and] get some positives out of it."
The West Indies are joined by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in going through the preliminary phase.
However, Lara is confident the side can defend its title in the later stages.
"If we can't get past the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to get into the second stagee of the tournament we're really suffering and I expect us to get to the finals and get to defend our trophy.
"I know they have the ability and I am sure they are looking forward to expressing themselves as time goes by."
The West Indies go into the tournament having beaten India 4-1 at home and making the final of the DLF Cup in Malaysia where they lost the final to Australia.
Lara said that while the side hadn't played for some time before the DLF Cup, the team deserved credit for making the final.
"We played very good cricket in all departments of the game," he said.
