Experienced India capable of challenging mighty Aussies: Kumble

Sydney, Nov 16 (UNI) Rubbishing former coach Greg Chappell's statement that many of India's superstars are well past their best, newly-appointed Test captain Anil Kumble said his side's vast experience is capable of breaking Australia's stranglehold on world cricket.

Chappell had earlier publicly criticised Indian selectors reluctance to embrace a look youth policy and warned that the seniors' era is over and need to be replaced by fresh bloods for the upcoming 'Down Under' tour.

According to 'The Age' newspaper, Kumble rated his side's experience in Australian conditions as one of their main strengths which would help them to give a tough fight to Ricky Ponting's men in the away series starting next month.

''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.

''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,'' Kumble told 'The Age' over phone.

The 37-year-old legendary spinner, who took over the Test captaincy from statemate Rahul Dravid, also said he hoped to capitalise on the vaccum created in the Aussie side due to the retirements of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn.

''Australia always has good players but we can use that (the retirements) to our advantage,'' he reirerated.

Team India begins their long Australia tour with a warm-up match against Victoria on December 20.

UNI