Anil Kumble

Melbourne: India’s new Test captain Anil Kumble, drawing inspiration from the performance during their last tour Down Under, feels his team has the ammunition to stop the Australian juggernaut.

Kumble, who has been appointed captain for the three-match home Test series against Pakistan, said though the Aussies were better than the other sides, they were not unbeatable.

“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 was quoted as saying by an Australian newspaper.

“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,” he said.

Kumble said the retirement of veterans like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer would give India an advantage in the Test series.

“Australia always have good players but we can use that (the retirements) to our advantage.”

While praising the younger players in the side, Kumble maintained he preferred to silence the opponents by putting up a good performance than being engaged in a war of words like Sreesanth.

“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 let cricket do the talking… we need to play to our strengths,” he 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,” Kumble said. (PTI)