"Will have to work around it, find best combination," says coach Dravid on Pandya's absence in NZ clash

India will lock horns against New Zealand at Dharamshala on Sunday. Both teams are undefeated in the tournament, having won four matches each and having eight points. New Zealand is at the top due to a better net run rate. Notably, India has not beaten the Kiwis at any ICC tournament since 2003.

On Hardik Pandya's absence, who is missing the match due to an ankle injury, Dravid said in a pre-match press conference, "Yeah, obviously, he is an important player for us and an important all-rounder who helps us really balance our squad out really well. But he is going to miss this game, so we will have to work around that and see what is the best combination."

"I mean, in the end, we have got to work with the 14 that we have got. Sometimes you do expect that this kind of thing can happen, so that's why you have got a squad. We will have to see what works best under these conditions and these wickets. But yeah, probably might not have the kind of balance that we probably used in the first four games," he added.

The head coach lauded spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin for their bowling in the tournament so far.

"I wouldn't really want to focus much on the opposition players (on their ability to play Indian spin). I would really like to compliment the role of our spinners. I think they have done a fantastic job. I think the way the three of them bowled in the first game and then obviously we played with Kuldeep and Jadeja in the next three games but just the way they bowled and as you said rightly you know the way they have been able to bring us back into games, control games, take wickets, bring the run rate down, has been more, I think, down to their skill and their ability," said Dravid.

"It is nice for us to have both of them in the last three games, a lot of experience, different skills as well, even though both of them are left-arm spinners. They are obviously different kinds of left-handed bowlers and left-arm spinners. So that gives us variation, gives us different angles that they bowl at."

"So yeah, big credit to them. And also, just the bowling coaches working with them to really ensure that they have been bowling really well. I thought Rohit has done a great job of handling them really well and working out the right ends, some really good field placings as well. So yes, I think all in all we have done a really good job and hopefully, we can keep it going," he concluded.

Questioned on ratings given to certain pitches by ICC where India played, Dravid said that he disagrees with the "average" rating given to Chennai and Ahmedabad pitches where India played Australia and Pakistan, calling them "good wickets".

On whether this World Cup, which has seen plenty of 300-350-plus scores offers a fair judgement of players' skills, Dravid said, "So, in a tournament, I just want to see variety, no? I mean, yes, there are sometimes, there will be some good wickets in a tournament. There will be sometimes 350 scored and games that go at high scoring. There will be sometimes wickets where the ball turns, bringing the spinners into play. There will be other wickets where it might seam a little bit. You have got a long tournament, you are playing in India, different parts of the country, there will be different wickets, different challenges. The teams that are able to cope with all of those challenges and deal with them are the ones that will end up being successful."

"We as a team have to be able to focus on that and work with that. Do you want to standardize everything and make every wicket a 350 wicket? I mean - and there are very good skills on display, even in a 350-plus wicket. Yes, we see some great hitting. We see some terrific shots being played and all that. But other skills get missed out. And that is fine on that particular day. But the first few games, when it spins a little bit or something happens, it brings the bowlers into the game. You start rating them as average. Where does it leave the bowlers? Why are they coming then? If all we want to see is fours - like I said - we have T20, play two T20 matches," he added.

Rahul lauded KL Rahul for his role as a wicketkeeper-batter, saying that he is doing his job really well, but it is a challenging one since he does not keep wickets regularly at all. Notably, Dravid also kept wickets for a brief point of his career in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

"It is certainly not easy and I think he is doing a fantastic job of it. I thought Rahul's really kept superbly in this tournament and then batted really well whenever he's got the opportunity to do that, especially in the first game. But yeah, I think it is challenging, because for someone like him who, and having had that experience myself, he's not someone who keeps regularly at all," said Dravid.

"But he has probably kept a little bit more than I have. As a youngster, he kept probably up to his under-19 days, and he has kept in a few T20 games, as well for Karnataka and all that. So, he kept a little bit more than I did, but certainly not easy, considering he was also out with injury for four or five months. When we first decided that he would keep and we wanted to have that kind of option with him as one of the options of being able to keep in and bat in the middle order and we thought we would build him up to this tournament by giving him game time and building him up. But unfortunately, due to his injury, he actually could not keep for a while," he added.

Dravid went on to further laud on how KL has come back from an injury really well, and worked hard, even when he was away from the game, on his wicketkeeping.

"But the way he has come back, the way he has worked hard, even in his injury, he worked really hard. When he started getting back to skills, spent a lot of time with wicket-keeping, and worked really hard on it. So yeah, I thought he had kept really well in this thing. And it has been really good to see. It just certainly gives us a lot of confidence in him and his ability," said Dravid.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young. (ANI)