India captain Anil Kumble on Tuesday said absence of a quality spinner
like Shane Warne 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 , 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.