"No time frame can be fixed (on Harbhajan's return) but we have got a cover (in Ramesh Powar)," he added. There was more bad news on the bowling front with rookie pacer Sreesanth, as also coach Greg Chappell, being laid down by throat infection.

The pitches in the series have been unkind to the bowlers but it has also exposed the lack of depth in the Indian attack. Although the Duckworth-Lewis method came into play in deciding the winner at Peshawar, that Pakistan's score remained above the par score at any given moment of their chase should give an indication of the hosts' batting might.

The Pindi track too promises a batting feast, and it is going to be another brutal examination for the Indian bowling against the Pakistani batsmen who seem to be least intimidated by a target in excess of 300. Dravid said that the series would be a huge learning curve for his young attack. "We could do better in bowling. But it is tough on the bowlers to bowl on these flat tracks," Dravid said. "We are trying to do something different but in a One-Day match not much can be done differently with the bowler restricted to bowl only 10 overs. We have an inexperienced attack. We are trying to do better than what we are doing. It is a learning process."

Dravid rated the Pakistani batting highly. "They are a good batting side. They have had a lot of success in the sub-continent and they are playing well," he said.

Dravid once again said it was strategy and not experimentation when talking about the changes made in the Indian batting order.

"You may call it experiment. We call it strategy...We have to be fluid in our approach and not cast in stone," Dravid said.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni's coming up the order and Yuvraj Singh being sent ahead were done keeping in mind their power game and the fact that Sachin Tendulkar was holding the other end up. We need to set different targets on different wickets and situations. Irfan at No.3 is no longer an experiment. It has happened often since the Sri Lanka series."