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Home > Cricket > PTI > Report


Kumble finds a chink in Aussie armour

December 18, 2007 12:29 IST

India captain Anil Kumble [Images] on Tuesday said absence of a quality spinner like Shane Warne [Images] makes the Australian spin-attack vulnerable and his team is looking to forward to take advantage of this weakness.

"Definitely the spinners. They miss Warnie [Warne], somebody like him, so that's something, an area, we can [exploit]," he was quoted as saying by Australian newspaper Herald Sun.

India's 16-man squad arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday to play a four-Test series, beginning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26.

Kumble said beating Australia in their den means a lot to the Indian cricket.

"It means a lot to all of us in the team and also it means a lot to Indian cricket. We came pretty close to doing that the last time we came here [in 2003-04].

"Leading up to the [final] Sydney Test match it was 1-1 and we did extremely well in the last Test series [to draw], so it's going to be very crucial for all of us," he said.

The ace-leg-spinner, in an apparent reference to players like Sachin Tendulkar [Images], Rahul Dravid [Images], Sourav Ganguly [Images] and V V S Laxman [Images], said seniors had a great opportunity to achieve on their last tour Down Under, what has eluded Indian team for a long time.

"Most of the senior cricketers are here on their last tour of Australia, so it's very important we go back victorious. Not many teams have come here and gone home victorious, so it's a great opportunity for all of us," he said.

Indians will play their only warm up game, a three-day match against Victoria, from Thursday, to kick start their preparations for the tough series.

© Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.



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