With major tournaments including the Test series against the Netherlands round the corner, India will be experimenting with new combinations to sort out "certain weaknesses" during the Afro-Asian Games, chief coach Rajinder Singh said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The Indians, who have come to the Afro-Asian Games with a new-look side after the Indian Hockey Federation decided to "rest" seven players including the mercurial striker Dhanraj Pillay, will take on Egypt in their opening tie on Wednesday.

"We will try out new combinations during the match against Egypt. Most members of the side have played in the junior World Cup so they would not have any problem in adjusting to new combinations," Rajinder Singh said.

"We have certain shortcomings which we need to rectify before the Netherlands series and the Olympics qualifiers in March.

"This Games will give us the opportunity to experiment new things," he said.

The chief coach also said the side will not miss the services of three senior players who were "rested" after the title in in Asia Cup last month -- Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Baljit Singh Saini.

Captain Dilip Tirkey echoed his coach's views when he said that Games would also give a chance to find a suitable replacement for injured penalty-corner expert Jugraj Singh.