Australia can be beaten: Kumble

[Guest HariSampath]

Good interview... Experienced India can knock Australia off their perch, vows new skipper Kumble Chloe Saltau November 16, 2007 AS the cricket world wonders where Australia's next challenge will come from, new Indian captain Anil Kumble has insisted his side is capable of breaking the Australians' stranglehold on the game later this summer, despite former coach Greg Chappell's belief that many of the country's superstars are past it. Speaking to The Herald from New Delhi, Kumble rated experience in Australian conditions as one of India's main strengths and pledged that under his leadership the team would not be encouraged to use the combative tactics seen during the Australians' recent one-day series in India. With India about to start a Test series against Pakistan, and Australia in the middle of a series against Sri Lanka that has inspired little interest, Kumble's men are being relied upon to spark up the local summer when they arrive for four Tests, from Boxing Day, and the subsequent one-day series. Cricket Australia expects much bigger ground and TV audiences, and a financial surge. Kumble, the respected leg spinner who has inherited the Test captaincy from Rahul Dravid, said he hoped to capitalise on the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn, despite the smooth transition and committed performance of the Australians so far. He pointed out that four summers ago Australia struggled without McGrath and Warne in the team, and India drew the series under Sourav Ganguly. "The way I like to look at it is that we did extremely well in Australia last time and, in fact, we had a chance to win in Sydney and we draw a lot of confidence from that," Kumble said. "I think the gap is there, but it's something for us to stop and we've done it in the past. I see no reason why we can't do it again with the experience and quality in our side. "Australia always has good players but we can use that [the retirements] to our advantage." In a documentary to be screened on the ABC next week about his dramatic tenure with India, Chappell discusses the resistance to his attempts to embrace young players. His long-running feud with Ganguly is well-known, and it is believed he also objected to coaching a team of fading stars, including Sachin Tendulkar, with selfish attitudes. Ganguly, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Dravid were named in the Test squad for the Pakistan series and are expected to continue on the Australian tour, which begins with a solitary warm-up match against Victoria, with which to adapt to the steeper bounce, from December 20. Although Kumble does not think the team is too old, he also spoke glowingly of a new generation of Indian cricketers embodied by the country's dashing one-day captain, Mahendra Dhoni. But he said volatile fast bowler Shantha Sreesanth had to be kept under control, after his clashes with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the recent one-day series. "I wasn't on the field during the one-day series, so I'm not in a position to say what was happening but I like the cricket to do the talking … We need to play to our strengths," Kumble said. "He [sreesanth] is a great talent, but it's important for him not to cross the line. It's something everyone is aware of." This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/15/1194766868824.html

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Anil please dont make statements like your Sri Lankan counterparts, let your performance on the field do the talking.

[gloryof83]

Its good that they are thinking positively rather than saying "we hope to compete" like most other teams. Kumble should be an aggressive captain, that goes a long way in unsettling the australians.

[Guest HariSampath]

what statements has Anil made like "SL players" ?? see the highlighted parts which are only the direct quotes from Anil.... nothing wrong with it, he is just focusing on the positives and cricketing points

[King]

You can focus on the positives but that doesn't have to be made public. Rather than throw up challenges in the press I would prefer Indians to play aggressive cricket on the field like they did last time they visited Australia. India can certainly not do any worse than Sri Lanka.

[Guest HariSampath]

You can focus on the positives but that doesn't have to be made public. Rather than throw up challenges in the press I would prefer Indians to play aggressive cricket on the field like they did last time they visited Australia. India can certainly not do any worse than Sri Lanka.

Should focusing on positives not be made public ? I think that is absurd And where has Anil thrown a challenge ?

[King]

Should focusing on positives not be made public ? I think that is absurd And where has Anil thrown a challenge ?

How many times have you heard Anil Kumble come out in open with his focus on future series? Something that sounds absurd to you sounds prudent to me. It doesn't suit Anil to go this way, this isn't his type of cricket. If you know Anil quite closely you will sure know this one

[Dravid]

there aint no way in hell we gonna go through jaques,hayden,ponting,hussey,clarke, symo, gilly TWICE.. It would be best to go in with guys like chopra and aim for a draw. that being said.. all the best to india, chak de :D

[Gambit]

Hussey is going to flop against us.

[Anakin]

You can focus on the positives but that doesn't have to be made public. Rather than throw up challenges in the press I would prefer Indians to play aggressive cricket on the field like they did last time they visited Australia. India can certainly not do any worse than Sri Lanka.

x2

[Ram]

From the evidence of what i have seen till now in the Aus-SL series , it will take a mammoth effort by our players to pull one over the Aussies. We maybe able to keep their bowlers at bay , but their batting is just awesome !

[Ijlal]

Brad Williams & Nathan Bracken wont open bowling for Aus this time around against Ind

[Bumper]

Hussey is going to flop against us.

Flop aint good enough for his standards Gambit. The man averages 88, an average of 50 would be a flop by his standards. We need Hussey injured or be stuck with a Delhi Belly. Sehwag must learn to share his samosas:haha:

[DesiChap]

Flop aint good enough for his standards Gambit. The man averages 88' date=' an average of 50 would be a flop by his standards. We need Hussey injured or be stuck with a Delhi Belly. Sehwag must learn to share his samosas:haha:[/quote'] Thats should be good enough reason for Sehwag to be in the 15 for the Aus tour ! Hussey will average about 30 against India.

[apocalypse]

First lets focus on Pakistan Mr Captain