Mumbai, Oct. 21: Even though they are missing key players, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes that the seven-match ODI series against India will be an exciting contest as the recent Champions Trophy victory in South Africa had boosted the confidence of his younger players.

"We need to give our best if we want to win a series here. The last 12 one-dayers we have played starting from the series in England have fetched us results as we carried that form to win the Champions Trophy," Ponting told reporters here on Wednesday a day after their arrival.

"A lot of our younger guys have gained from that. But as we know we can’t expect it to continue. We’ve got to keep working hard, keep trying to find ways to improve as individuals, as a team to improve and we will do that over the next few weeks," he added.

Ponting had mixed feelings about the six players playing for their respective domestic teams in the Champions League Twenty20 semi-finals in Delhi on the night.

"It is good to see that two Australian teams have made it to the semifinals but unfortunately they are playing against each other tonight. The fact that they have been here, got acclimatised and got used to the conditions in on one hand is good for us, but it would have been nice to have the whole group together a little bit sooner for the training sessions," he said.

Ponting admitted that the return of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh to the India squad was a worry, considering their earlier exploits.

Further, handling quality spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra during the middle overs would be a challenge.

"If you line the teams up, the Indian batting line-up with Yuvraj and Sehwag coming back looks formidable.

"The challenges that we face over the next few weeks will be how our middle order plays the Indian spinners.

"I have played good amount of cricket here as have Mike Hussey and Shane Watson. Tim Paine and Cameron White play spin well.

"One thing you need to have in a one-day team is guys who are flexible and can perform in all types of conditions. Interestingly, our overall record in the sub-continent has been good over the years," he said.

Ponting stressed that the only way to maintain their dominance at the international level was to be consistent.