India will use Sunday's inconsequential fifth one-dayer to try out players in "different situations" as part of the ongoing process to develop the team for next year's World Cup.
Skipper Rahul Dravid said the aim was help the youngsters develop different kinds of skills and see how they respond under pressure.
"We want the players to develop different kinds of skills and adapt to different situations in the ongoing process of developing the team. Trying to be too careful with youngsters may not be too helpful in their growth. You have to put people under pressure and see how they respond," he said on the eve of the match.
However, he made it clear that the strategies would not be implemented at the cost of win which will see them wrap-up the series 4-1 in their favour.
"We would definitely want to win the match for a 4-1 margin of victory in the series as we approach each game with the aim of winning it. But we also see tomorrow's game as an opportunity to give chances to some our batsmen and bowlers to play in different situations," he said.
"We want to put the players under pressure, not in terms of results which comes naturally but in terms of achieving different goals they have been set. You saw what a player like Suresh Raina can achieve when given the chance. What he did at Multan (by making a quick 35 not out to guide the team home) was phenomenal," the middle-order stalwart said.
Dravid did not spell out which players would be left out, saying it would be decided later.
Asked what brought about the team's transformation, especially in the bowlers after they had been mauled in the Test series earlier by the Pakistan batsmen, the Indian skipper said the entire team worked hard after the loss in the final Test here.
"We had not lost confidence after the Test series loss as we knew if we played good cricket, we would get the result. We worked hard after the Tests and the bowlers responded well.
The support staff also did their job. We showed determination to come back in the ODIs," Dravid said.
While stating that the team looked well settled in one-day cricket, Dravid emphasised that the squad was equally adept in playing both forms of the game.
"Except for the loss in the Karachi Test, we have done better in Tests over the last two years than in one-dayers. In one-day cricket we have been playing well from the series against Sri Lanka (the team won 6-1).
"We had beaten Sri Lanka when they were number two and squared the series against South Africa when they were number two. Now we have beaten Pakistan who were number two. But we are competitive in both forms of the game.
"But we have to keep getting better as others are also improving, it's important to develop as a team as well as individually. The sum total would be good for the team," he said.
Dravid said the one-day game gave more chances for trying out different strategies than Tests.
"There is more maneouverability in one-day cricket than in Tests. You can try out different strategies. We are heading in the right direction." Dravid said.
The Indian captain said he had enjoyed the challenges of the job on his first full tour at the helm and also learned a lot in the process.
"I enjoyed the challenges. It has been the first time I have taken the team overseas (for a full tour). There was defeat as well as success. One of the things I learned is that you cannot do everything on your own. You need to relax too off the field. It was a good learning process for me, I have enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next series."
Dravid said he was quite happy with the wickets that had been prepared for the one-day series after the two flat wickets that were on offer in the first two drawn Tests at Lahore and Faisalabad.
"I am quite happy with the wickets for the one-day series. The bowlers get help by putting the ball in the right areas. The groundsmen have done a good job. Preparing a wicket in cricket is an art and not a science," he said.
However, Dravid felt that the shorter boundaries in some of the grounds did not help the spinners.
"The short boundaries took the spinners out of the game.
It was tough on the spinners. Even Pakistan have not played a frontline spinner. There's a role for spin bowling in ODIs as has been shown by Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Warne and Murali.
We are in danger of killing it with short boundaries," he said.
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