Sehwag's absence huge loss but Team Indian confident: Kirsten

The No 1 spot well within its sight Indias cricket coach Gary Kirsten on Wednesday said the team would draw inspiration from its past success in Sri Lanka as it copes with the huge loss of not having explosive opener Virender Sehwag for the triseries in the island nation The Indian team on Wednesday left for Sri Lanka for the triseries that also features New Zealand and Kirsten said not having Sehwag who is ruled out due to a shoulder injury in the side is quite a blow The Indians will play their first match on Thursday against the hosts Asked who would be opening the innings with Gautam Gambhir Kirsten said We are not sure about the combination We would decide it on the day of the game But obviously missing Sehwag is huge He is a high quality player and any team would love to have him in the mix But we have got a lot of depth in the teamu00a0 u00a0Team India coach Gary KirstenHowever Kirsten was quite excited about Rahul Dravids return to the team after being out for close to two years Its great to have him With the sort of experience he brings its going to help the team Its great he said A cleansweep in the short series would catapult India to the top of the ICC ODI rankings and Kirsten said being the best in the world is high on the teams list of targets for the next eight months We have set our goals One of them is to be the best cricket team in the world We are headed that way and we are very excited We know we have to perform well as we continue the quest to be the best Kirsten said The team enjoyed a welcome break after a gruelling first half of the year and Kirsten said having the Corporate Trophy just a few days ahead of the triseries will ensure that the players dont turn up rusty in Sri Lanka I think it was great to have a sixweek break followed by the Corporate Trophy It gave the players games before a big series We might have been a bit rusty but the Corporate Trophy has helped he said Asked about the teams chances in the triseries Kirsten said We won the last two series in Sri Lanka and we are confident But we think ahead and dont harp on the results of the past We have got a good batting lineup which is quite flexible in the middle We would like to mix it up during the series he said We have got a very good run in oneday cricket We have got good depth in the side and the younger players have proved themselves he added