Dhoni happy to rely on his 'part-time' match-winners

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on sprang to the defence of his misfiring frontline bowlers on Tuesday, saying he does not mind if "part-timers" win World Cup matches for the team.

Barring Zaheer Khan, none of the Indian bowlers have done justice to their reputation in the three matches so far.

Talking to reporters a day before the Group B match against the Netherlands, Dhoni sounded unperturbed.

"Personally, I don't mind who is taking the wickets or scoring the runs," Dhoni told reporters on Tuesday.

"What is important is the team is winning and we are playing consistent cricket. To target a particular bowler and to say 'this is the bowler who is supposed to get the wickets' is a bit difficult because the bowlers are also under pressure.

"A lot has been said of our bowling but we are showing signs of improvement and I'm sure we will peak at the right time and the bowlers will definitely do their job."

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth bled 53 runs in his five overs against Bangladesh and has not had another game, while Munaf Patel started well but looked wayward in the last two matches.

In the slow bowling department, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has just two scalps from three matches while leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has gone for seven or more per over in the couple of matches he has played.

In contrast, the part-time spinners have done better. Yuvraj Singh's 5-31 against Ireland laid the foundation for a laboured victory.

'BEEN STRUGGLING'

Dhoni admitted bowling needed a lot of improvement but was confident of sorting the issue before reaching the quarter-final stage.

"A few key fast bowlers are actually missing (in the squad). Ashish (Nehra) has been struggling ... (with) fitness. Zak (Zaheer) is the only one (performing well). Munaf has come back to the side after a long time.

"It's a very different fast bowling attack ... hopefully we will have our best bowling attack by the time the league stage ends."

The spinners' poor form, especially Chawla's, strengthens Ravichandran Ashwin's case for selection even though many feel the off-spinner is at his best against left-handed batsmen

"Well, there are other factors as well. If our bowling does not click, he is an option. It's not that he bowls well only against left-handers. He's a very good bowler and has done really well for us. It's just a matter of time," Dhoni said.

India's fielding has not been great and Dhoni said he did not expect it to improve either.

"A lot has been said of our fielding but I think our fielding would be quite the same in the tournament, I don't see a drastic improvement in our fielding," he said.

Dwelling on the batting order, Dhoni virtually ruled out Suresh Raina's chances of getting a game on Wednesday and felt it made sense to promote Virat Kohli.

"It's difficult to make a place for Raina. In that case you have to request either Virat, Gautam Gambhir or (Virender) Sehwag to take a rest, which none of them would like because it's their home ground.

"Virat is the only batsman who needs to bat at number three or four. Apart from that, Yuvraj Singh, me or Yusuf Pathan can float around and bat according to the demand. Virat needs to bat up the order and can perform to his potential."