India captain Rahul Dravid and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene agreed that the Saturday's series decider in Visakhapatnam would give the winning side a minor psychological boost ahead of the World Cup.
Dravid said a positive result would not mean much at the World Cup, yet it is important to win the series and get into winning mode ahead of the quadrennial event in the Caribbean, beginning March 13.
"We are focussing to win the series here tomorrow. Of course, the World Cup is there in the back of our minds. We will try and win tomorrow and take it from there to the World Cup," he said at the pre-match press conference.
"Winning a match on hand is more important and we want to win every game. The result here will not have a major bearing on the World Cup.
"In fact, both the teams would want to win the series here at hand," he said.
Jayawardene also echoed a similar view, saying, "We cannot give too much emphasis on the World Cup now. Presently we want to win tomorrow's match which would mean a series win on Indian soil.
"This is uppermost in our mind. A win here would give us the psychological advantage going into the World Cup.
"World Cup is a different tournament altogether. We will be playing India in the first round. It will be on a neutral venue and the atmosphere is different," he said.
India and Sri Lanka are drawn in the same group, 'B', in the first league phase at the World Cup.
Sixteen teams are spread in four groups and the top two teams move to the second phase -- the Super Eight.
Irrespective of the result in the preliminary stage, India will be ranked below the Lankans in the Super Eight because of their inferior ranking in one-day cricket.
But the winners get to carry forward the points earned in the early rounds and this could prove vital in case of ties later.
The Indians have decided to leave out leg-spinner Anil Kumble and Kerala pacer S Sreesanth for Saturday's match while Sachin Tendulkar has been rested because of a stiff back.
Dravid said Pathan, who has not played a match in the series due to soreness in the bowling shoulder, is recovering well.
"Pathan has come on well and he bowled ten overs on the trot to batsmen at the nets today," he said.
Dravid dismissed concerns about the injury to Tendulkar, who has stayed back in Mumbai.
"There is no real concern. It is not a very serious thing to be alarmed about. He is experiencing some stiffness in his back and we did not want him aggravate it," he said.
He was less forthcoming on who would open on Saturday, especially in the wake of Virender Sehwag's flop show at Goa.
Asked repeatedly whether Sehwag will open, Dravid said, "We have to make the best choice. We have three opening batsmen and play two of them and the third batsman perhaps will play at number three and we have the option of playing Dinesh Kaarthick or Pathan."
India's captain insisted that injuries are a non-issue with his side.
"So many international matches are being played. I am happy that the injuries of our players are not serious ones and I am not worried about them," he said.
"Every team is concerned about injuries to their players. But luckily there is no concern on our players' minor injuries and I am confident about that."
He said the team has already been working on its weak areas in the lead up to the World Cup.
"We are seeing improvement in our fielding. We have identified the areas where we need to improve upon and working on them in the last eight matches.
"We have realised the importance and given emphasis on our fielding and the focus will continue."
Dravid said Yuvraj has a key role to play for India in the West Indies.
"Yuvraj is a power player. We hope that he gets into his form. He is a delight to watch batting on slow wickets and this is an advantage to us even in the World Cup."
Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody said Sachin's absence would not give his team a significant advantage.
Sachin is a fine player. There are 10 others in the team when he plays. Whoever replaces him tomorrow, I hope the team will stand up to him."
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan.
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Upul Chandana, Chamara Silva, Malinga Bandara, Lasith Malinga,Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa and Nuwan Kulasekara.
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