IndiaPost.com - Kumble finds a chink in Aussie armor

MELBOURNE: Indian skipper Anil Kumble said here absence of a quality spinner like Shane Warne makes the Australian spin-attack vulnerable and his team is looking forward to take advantage of this weakness. "Definitely the spinners.

They miss Warnie (Shane Warne), somebody like him, so that's something, an area, we can (exploit)," he was quoted as saying by the 'Herald Sun'. India's 16-man squad arrived here December 18 to play a four-Test series, beginning here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the Boxing Day.

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, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, 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. Earlier, in Mumbai, Kumble admitted that the squad would miss the bowling of S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, who are not in the team because of fitness reasons, but said their absence has given an opportunity for newcomers Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh. Kumble also welcomed the dilemma on how to include in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh in the Test eleven.