India's Ganguly says Aussies won't have it easy

NEW DELHI - India skipper Saurav Ganguly says the all-conquering Australian team arriving next month face a tough Test tour despite the absence of injured leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

"Without Kumble, bowling will be a bit handicapped. But it won't be that easy and Steve (Waugh) also knows that," Ganguly said as India prepares to keep its 31-year unbroken home Test series record against Australia intact. Anil Kumble, India's second highest Test wicket-taker and a proven match-winner at home, is ruled out for at least four months after an operation on his injured shoulder on Wednesday.

Kumble, 30, who has taken 276 wickets from 61 Tests, was operated on in Johannesburg by shoulder specialist Mark Ferguson after rehabilitation exercises failed.

Waugh's Australia is aiming to extend its 15-match world record Test winning streak but Ganguly noted that most of the victories were at home.

"They've toured India and lost series before. Playing India in India won't be easy. It will be a good series," Ganguly said from Calcutta. "Out of the 15, 11 or 12 have come at home for them," he said.

In fact, 11 of Australia's wins have been at home with the current run beginning in Zimbabwe in October 1999 and including a three-Test series sweep in New Zealand.

Waugh had said the 5-0 whitewash over West Indies earlier this month was only a warm-up and Australia have to win in India to be regarded as one of the finest teams in history.

"The West Indies was an important series but the Indian series will be the big one and the one we'll be judged on," Waugh said.

Ganguly's side is preparing for the tough series after modest wins over debutants Bangladesh in a one-off Test in Dhaka and a 1-0 result in a two-Test home series against Zimbabwe.

"We are playing well and we have a good team. We don't have Kumble, but we can't help it," said Ganguly.

India has not lost to Australia at home since Bill Lawry's side dominated a five-Test series 3-1 in 1969.

Ganguly said he would work on strategy with John Wright, former New Zealand skipper and India's first foreign coach, when the probables assemble in the southern Madras city for a camp starting on February 5.

The six-day camp will be followed by a domestic one-day tournament and would then continue until February 20, he said.

The first Test starts on February 27, with the three-Test series to be followed by a five-match one-day series.

Ganguly, who struggled for runs in India's humiliating 3-0 defeat in Australia early last year, said he was nursing a stiff back but it was not serious enough to stop him from playing.

The problem arose during the Zimbabwe tour and Ganguly attributed it to non-stop playing.

"It is due to excess cricket. I still feel some stiffness, but I will be okay," he added.

India won its last home series against Australia 2-1 in 1998 and claimed a 1996 one-off Test.