NZ tour good preparation for World Cup: Dhoni

India skipper MS Dhoni eyes the upcoming New Zealand tour as preparation for the 2015 World Cup to be played in the Trans-Tasman nations. Having lost both the ODI and the Test series to South Africa last month, India now travel to New Zealand to play 5 ODIs and 2 Tests with the ODI series starting first on 19th January.

"As far as experience is concerned, yes the next World Cup will be in Australia and New Zealand, so most of the players will get the feel, about the wickets. When I first went to New Zealand, the fielding position was very confusing. The shape of the grounds are very unusual. So it takes time to adjust. Overall, it would be a good exposure," Dhoni said during his team's pre-departure press conference.

With smaller outfields and batsman-friendly pitches, Dhoni expects a high-scoring series.

"The grounds in New Zealand are different. In most places, there are drop-in pitches. It has been seen that the matches can be high scoring, especially with the new rule changes. When we went last time, we had played according to the old rules," he said.

New Zealand put on some terrific performances in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies. Keeping that and the kind of quality the hosts have got in mind, Dhoni said, "In their team, they have lot of interesting talent, there are many new players who are doing well and it is also their home condition. So I think overall, it looks exciting. It looks like an exciting series. Let's hope for the best."

When asked about team-combinations, Dhoni remained non-committal but felt happy about the variety in the bowlers.

"We have different types of fast bowlers. Varun [Aaron] has comeback well. But each bowler has to know his strengths. So we will have to see. Stuart Binny is interesting, he has some swing. (His selection) depends on how he does in nets," he said.

After the conclusion of the ODI series, India stay back to play two Test matches, one each at Auckland and Hamilton. Though India lost the Test series in South Africa 1-0, Dhoni sounded confident that his boys will do well in New Zealand."I am confident about this team's ability. The batsmen played really well in South Africa," Dhoni said in Mumbai.

However, he was quick to admit that his batting needs to improve in the longest format having managed only 87 runs in 4 innings in South Africa, while young guns in Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay put on a spirited effort to battle against some hostile fast bowling.

"I would like to improve my performance. I would like to do well in overseas conditions. But sometimes the field is spread and have to play shots. But I want 8,9,10 to start contributing more. We have a slightly bigger challenge. We should be proud of what we have and it's important for us to tune up a bit," he said.

Barring a few good spells in patches, the Indian bowlers couldn't do much in South Africa and Dhoni stressed that the bowlers need to improve a lot.

"There will be more competition in thebowling department. Now with everyone fit, there will be a lot of competition. When wickets are on the drier side and there is not not enough swing on offer, we have to improve as fast bowlers. Because we don't have hit-the-deck bowlers," he said.

"We don't have five specialist bowlers. So can't have spinner who gives away too many. Jadeja's performance in South Africa was good. Spinner's role on first day is to not give too much turn. When they play more outside India, they will learn the need to be patient. Till we don't get a seaming all-rounder, that's what they will have to get used to," he added talking about the role of a spinner in overseas conditions.