India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sees no point in whining about how injury-ravaged his side is and oozed confidence that substitute players would come to the party in the ODI series against South Africa starting in Jaipur on Sunday.
Dhoni conceded the team would miss the likes of Zaheer Khan (leg), Gautam Gambhir (groin) and Yuvraj Singh (wrist) through injury and Harbhajan Singh because of his sister's marriage but asserted the substitutes have it in them to deliver the goods.
"The confidence of the team is good. As far as missing a few players is concerned, we are missing some player or the other in every series," Dhoni said after the team's net session at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
"I think it is a good opportunity for young players to prove that they belong to the international level. Besides, it also gives you the chance to test your bench strength," he said.
"We will see whatever the best combination we can pick according to the situation and the wicket. We will miss a few players but whatever players we have in the team, they all have done well whenever given a chance. I don't think it should be a big worry and whoever gets a chance will do well," Dhoni said.
Dhoni said Harbhajan would have been useful against the South Africans, whom he tormented in Kolkata but nothing could be done about the off-spinner's absence.
"Harbhajan is a great spinner. He bowls well and does both the roles -- containing as well taking wickets. Of course we will miss him but hopefully everything would go well," he said.
Talking about the bowling unit, Dhoni said the abundunce of part-timers would help the team's cause against South Africa.
"You can say we have quite a few batsmen who can bowl. We are still searching for the perfect all-rounder, a fast bowling all-rounder, because it balances the team combination.
"In this side it is good that we have batsmen who can bowl like (Virender) Sehwag, Abhishek Nayyar, Yusuf Pathan, (Ravindra) Jadeja and Suresh Raina. So we have quite a few batsmen who can bowl. There is some extra help in case one of your regular bowler is struggling," he said.
Dhoni also hinted that Uttar Pradesh seamer Praveen Kumar is in with a good chance of playing the first ODI of the three-match series tomorrow.
"If you see Praveen, he has not got the pace. He is not an express bowler but I feel he is a street-smart cricketer. The change in length, speeds and the variation that he has got and the amount of cricket that he has played really helps him," he said. PTI
