India's Virender Sehwag will aim to regain his form ahead of next month's World Cup when the hosts take on Sri Lanka in a one-day series beginning later this week.

The 28-year-old batsman was dropped for the recent one-day series against the West Indies due to a form slump and is on trial for the first two matches as India seek to achieve a settled combination ahead of March's showpiece event.

The four-match series will be the last for both teams before the World Cup in the Caribbean where they have been drawn together in the preliminary phase along with Bangladesh and Bermuda.

The matches against Sri Lanka will be played in Kolkata on Thursday, Rajkot (February 11), Goa (February 14) and Visakhapatnam (February 17).

India's World Cup squad will be announced on February 12.

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said Sehwag will be tried in the middle-order.

A fierce striker of the ball, the experienced Sehwag made his mark as an opener and scored all his seven centuries and 21 of his 24 fifties batting at that position.

But young Robin Uthappa appears to have sealed his place as Sourav Ganguly's partner with his aggressive knocks during the 3-1 win over West Indies last month after Sachin Tendulkar was pushed down to bolster the brittle middle-order.

Sri Lanka lost a one-day series 6-1 on their last tour in 2005 and failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy here last year.

"We want to do well in all three departments of the game, that's the confidence we want to gain before the World Cup," experienced all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya told reporters on Monday.

Strike bowler Chaminda Vaas and experienced off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan have been rested for this tour.