Indian cricket team leaves for Holland

MUMBAI, AUGUST 17 (AGENCIES)The Indian Cricket team left for Holland early today to take part in the triangular series also featuring Pakistan and Australia.

The fifteen-member team will also participate in two other one-day tournaments - the Natwest Series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy.

"We get six games before the Champions Trophy, which is a good thing for the team which needs to pick up the momentum," said skipper Sourav Ganguly.

Although India reached the finals of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka last month, the captain is not satisfied with the form the team showed in the tournament.

He has made it clear that every member of the team will have to lift his game for the upcoming tour.

"We've played well in competitions with tougher teams in the last two years. We've just got to go ahead and pick ourselves up. It's not the teams we play against. It's how we play. That's how we'll have to focus," Ganguly said.

The selectors have made a few changes in the fifteen-member squad, the big one being the inclusion of wicket keeper Dinesh Kartik who could make his debut.

But for the moment, it is likely that vice captain Rahul Dravid will have to keep to maintain the team's successful combination of seven batsmen.

"In one day cricket, you need batsmen with quality to come at number six and seven because it's not easy to bat at that position under pressure. That last wicket has won us tournaments," skipper Ganguly explained.

Despite a lacklustre performance in Sri Lanka, Sourav Ganguly insists that the team does not lack any confidence.

They have beaten the best teams in the last two years and he hopes that the confidence within the team will translate into them delivering in the finals of tournaments over the next month.