Sachin will play, Zaheer still not fit for NZ match: Dhoni

India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday said that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will be available while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan would miss the second warmup game against New Zealand slated for Wednesday.

?We will be cautious and will not over-use our players at this stage,” said Dhoni.

Dhoni wants his team to show more intensity against New Zealand.

“We did not have a very good game against Australia. We needed a partnership but that did not happen and we could not score big.

“The lower-order helped and added some 45-odd runs. But at 214 we did not have a par score on the board. We want to score more runs in the warm-up and try various bowling options. We need to pick up intensity as we progress into the World Cup,” he said.

Dhoni, however, was pleased that the spinners especially Piyush Chawla, who had a match-winning performance of 4-31.

“We have a very good side,” said Dhoni. “That is what I have said always. I don’t believe in comparisons. We have a mix of players who are very good.

“But obviously what we have on paper is not important, it is what we do on the field which matters. We need to see what the conditions are and pick our best eleven accordingly.”

Dhoni said India will not take New Zealand lightly despite having whitewashed them 5-0 in an ODI series in December last year.

“They are a very contributive side. They don’t depend on any one particular player. They have some very talented players. When we talk about New Zealand we talk about their contributive effort rather than singling out players.”