With the world cup a few months away, Dhoni is cool about trying out new faces in the Absence of key players during the ODI series that starts today

Dhoni keen to try out new faces in the ODI tri-series

With the world cup a few months away, Dhoni is cool about trying out new faces in the Absence of key players during the ODI series that starts today

Ishant Sharma's dodgy ankle, a victim of the hectic Test schedule against Sri Lanka, has meant that India will need to develop a new ball pairing for the opening game of the triangular series against New Zealand today.

While the Sri Lanka army came to the rescue of MS Dhoni's side and flew them by helicopter to this venue in the heart of the nation's cultural triangle, they have not been that lucky when it comes to Sharma's injury, which has not recovered as well as they had hoped.

"At this stage, we are looking at what we feel could be part of the long-term squad for the World Cup," he said. "Three Tests over 22 days have been hectic, but coming back to win the Test on Saturday has given us more confidence.

"We are looking at a new pace attack of Abhimanyu Mithun and Ashish Nehra, which we feel will help us make up our minds abpout the players we want. And with the World Cup not so far away now, this is one place where we can experiment with the squad in sub-continent conditions.

"We learnt a lot last time (from the Asia Cup) and we are as much aware of our strengths and weaknesses as we are of Sri Lanka's," the skipper added with a grin.

"New Zealand are not at full strength for this tournament either, and I know they always have a crop of willing players.

"You may want to call it a blessing in disguise. We have lost quite a few players in the last few series because of injuries and it gives us a chance to look at quite a few newcomers and our bench strength," he said.

"We are hoping that we will play with our best 15 when it comes to the World Cup, but till then, we are getting some time to have a look at our bench strength. This is why in the long-term, it is a good tournament for us to have as it comes at the right time in our preparations."

He touched on the cut-off period pre-World Cup, agreeing that whatever series they are playing, India are expected to win. And for that reason it is often difficult to rest players, especially those injured or having fitness concerns.

"When we find that some player is having a niggle or a problem which can develop into a major injury, then we rest them.

"Like Harbhajan (Singh) and Gautam (Gambhir). We are trying to balance it out in a way that we don't have a whole lot of injuries before the World Cup," Dhoni said.

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