India will retain the tried and tested opening combination of Sachin Tendulkar [Images] and Sourav Ganguly [Images] while promoting Yuvraj Singh [Images] to number four in the first One-Day International against England [Images] on Tuesday, said captain Rahul Dravid [Images].

"Sachin and Sourav did really well in Ireland and we'll probably stick with them," Dravid said on the eve of the day-night match at Rose Bowl.

"Yuvraj will get a lot of opportunity (at number four) in this series. He is an exciting one-day player and this series will be better for his development and also for the team.

"During the course of the series, he will be given opportunities to bat a lot more overs and he can show he can win matches on his own," he said.

Dravid defended his bowlers, who conceded as many as 296 runs in the warm-up match against England Lions last week.

"I think it's about switching back from Test mode to one-day mode. We have spoken about it from a bowler's perspective about the lengths we need to bowl," Dravid said.

"It will be good to see the way people are going to approach and challenge us. Even from batsman point of view, we have discussed certain shots in the last couple of meetings. But the implementation is important."

Asked if there will be a lot of pressure on Zaheer Khan [Images] and R P Singh after their success in the Test series, Dravid said pressure is part and parcel of international cricket.

"There's pressure on everybody in international cricket. People are put under the gun a lot, but you need to stand up. R P hasn't played a lot of cricket before the last three months. He's keen to establish himself in the one-day game."

Dravid also said his team has moved on from the horrors of its World Cup defeat and had new challenges to respond to in the seven-match series.

"We were obviously disappointed with our performance in the World Cup, but that's over. We've moved on from that," he said.

"This group of players have new challenges, new things to achieve. There are lessons to be learnt and we've moved on. There is a lot of one-day cricket to be played from here on and we need to keep getting better."

He acknowledged that England would benefit from the presence of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff [Images] who will be playing his first one-dayer in England in two years.

"It's good to play against a player of his quality. He brings a lot to England with his skills with both bat and ball.

"With Flintoff and (Ravi) Bopara, there's a much better look to England. You know there's a lot more depth and flexibility. Give you more options.

"People like Flintoff give you more options. Players like that are critical. We want to be tested against the best and Andrew is one of them.

"He's someone who will provide energy, confidence. With such skill and ability in your side, it makes a difference."

Although the Indian skipper wasn't too keen to discuss retirement, he said that four years was a long time to be thinking about playing the next World Cup.

"You never know, it's hard to predict. A lot depends on your form and fitness. We just got to focus on this series.

"I'm sure during the course of the year or so there will be opportunity for other players to play more games. Already in the 20-20 three of us (Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly) aren't playing. It's an opportunity to bring on other young players.

"It's too early to say but the game is getting younger. I don't want to talk about retirement but I know four years is a long time in international cricket."