Gary Kirsten is confident Virender Sehwag's absence in Sri Lanka will not prevent India from becoming the best one-day team in the world.

Sehwag will miss the Compaq Cup series which also involves New Zealand due to a shoulder injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League in May.

The explosive opener will also miss the Champions Trophy in South Africa starting later this month, but Kirsten feels the team have enough depth to cope with Sehwag's absence.

Ahead of the team's departure for Colombo on Wednesday, Kirsten said he was pleased with the progress of his players.

"We have set our goals in terms of what we want to achieve in the next eight months," said the India coach.

"But certainly one of them is to become the best cricket team in the world.

"We are heading that way and we are very excited about the way we have gone about our task to get to that position.

"We know we have to continue to perform well as we continue the quest to be the best.

"Obviously missing someone like Sehwag is huge. He's a high-quality player and any team would love to have him in the mix.

"But I think we have got a lot of depth in our cricket at the moment. We have a good batting line-up which is flexible in the middle.

"I think we will try and mix it up a bit and some of the younger players have proven that they are capable of keeping their place in the team."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side were accused of hiding injuries following their early exit from the World Twenty20 in England in June, but Kirsten said a six-week break had helped the team recoup.

"The six-week break was very important for us to get strong again and that's something we have worked very hard on in the last while," Kirsten said.

"We have had to make sure the players are physically in good condition for the next eight months of intense cricket and I'm very happy with what I have seen on that side."

Kirsten claims the return of Rahul Dravid to the team is a huge boost.

"It is great to have him in the side," he said.

"With the sort of experience he brings, it's going to help the team.

"We won the last two series we played in Sri Lanka and we are confident.

"But we think ahead and not harping on past results."

India will take on New Zealand in their first match in the Compaq Cup on Friday and will go top of the International Cricket Council's one-day team rankings should they win all of their three matches.