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Johannesburg - New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori believes his side's upcoming tours to Bangladesh and India are the perfect preparation for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
Vettori says the experience of playing in the three host countries in 2010, ahead of next year's showpiece ODI event, will provide his team with a competitive advantage over other teams.
"I think we are pretty lucky as a New Zealand team to experience Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India before the World Cup," says 31-year-old Vettori.
"We are going to get the best possible warm-up and any game time in the sub-continent is going to make a huge difference to our chances in the World Cup."
The all-rounder, who currently stands in fifth place in the ICC ODI All-Rounder Rankings, is excited about the prospect of captaining his side in the tournament and potentially becoming the first New Zealand player to lift the trophy.
"I think it's most cricketers dream to play in the World Cup and throw in the fact it is going to be in the sub-continent on the biggest possible stage. So the guys are excited about it," says Vettori.
"For the New Zealand team to win the World Cup would be the ultimate achievement. I know the preparations are going pretty well. The fact we have been to Sri Lanka, we're going to Bangladesh soon and then we play some one-dayers in India gives us the best preparation leading into such an important tournament."
Vettori believes the side's combination of powerful hitters, as well as a good variation of pace and spin in the attack, is capable of mounting a serious challenge at the tournament.
"I think we have some world-class players from the top of our order with Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor. We have some real experience with Scott Styris and hopefully Kyle Mills and myself can lead a bowling attack that has a little bit of experience and that has some real talent," he says.
"There is some growing confidence within the team that we can win it but we know there is a lot of work to do between saying we can win it and actually doing it."
