India coach Gary Kirsten has backed his new generation of batsmen to seamlessly replace the experienced order ahead of next week's Asian Cup.
In-form left-hander Gautam Gambhir leads the youth charge that includes talented middle-order players Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
"We have a group of players, specifically the batsmen, who are extremely talented," Kirsten told a news conference on Sunday ahead of the team's departure to Pakistan for the one-day series.
"We are certainly backing them to be able to do some special stuff for the team," he added.
Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, members of the exclusive 10,000-run ODI club, but in their mid-30s, were eased out of the one-day team after selectors pitched for youth following the first-round exit in the World Cup last year.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar, who scored two centuries in the tri-series victory in Australia in March, has been ruled out with a persistent groin injury.
One-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led a young team to success in the Twenty20 World Cup and the tri-series in Australia, remains confident in his young team despite losing a tri-series final to Pakistan in Dhaka this month.
"If we play to our potential, if we play to our capabilities, on an average day we will win more matches than we will lose," Dhoni said.
The six-team Asia Cup begins on Tuesday. The other teams participating are defending champions Sri Lanka, hosts Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates.
India, finalist last time around, have won the event four times in the past.
"We have set ourselves goals for the next few months, set some high standards for ourselves. Certainly the Asia Cup is very much part of that," Kirsten said.
