Indian captain Rahul Dravid says his side has enough talent to cushion the loss of off-spinner Ramesh Powar and paceman S Sreesanth for the first one-day international against the West Indies in Jamaica on Thursday.
"Romesh Powar's injury is disappointing since he was being greatly utilised in recent months. As for Sreesanth, he is being monitored constantly. But it gives somebody else an opportunity to show his value," Dravid said ahead of tomorrow's game at Sabina Park.
Pawar twisted his ankle while fielding in a simulated practice session earlier this week while Sreesanth is carrying a bruised heel from the games in Abu Dhabi last month.
"The thing is you don't want to risk young players, especially when they get injured. You cannot play people with injuries, especially if they have a long tour ahead," the skipper said.
Dravid is disappointed that the team did not get an opportunity to practice at Sabina Park but said he did not want it to be an excuse if his team did not perform well.
"Ideally you would like to practice on the ground where you are playing but at the end of the day, it is a ground where we have played in the past.
"We know there are no facilities at the ground at this point of time but we don't want any reason for us to not perform," the Karnataka batsman said.
He acknowledged that the Windies are competitive in home conditions but did not want to dwell on their strengths.
"Instead of the opposition, we prefer to look after our own performance, own squad, plan, tactics etc. That is what we are focusing upon," Dravid added.
