India has an edge over Australia in the upcoming home series: Srinath

India has an edge over Australia in the upcoming home series, former Indian speedster Javagal Srinath said on Thursday.

New Delhi, Sept 12 : India has an edge over Australia in the upcoming home series, former Indian speedster Javagal Srinath said on Thursday.

Australia will reach India on September 21 for a four-Test series, beginning on October 9.

Srinath said the home team would have an advantage over its arch rival as the Aussies will be missing legends like Glen McGrath and Shane Warne.

"It will be a close contest. Obviously Australia comes from a very strong cricketing culture. India is playing the best cricket at the moment in terms of experience. In terms of youth I think we have the best combination. Australia doesn't have McGrath any more, they don't have Shane Warne too. So, at the moment I think the balance is slowly inclined towards the Indian side," Srinath told reporters in New Delhi.

After losing away the Test series 2-1 to Sri Lanka, India came back strongly to lift the one-day series.

The first Test begins in Bangalore on October 9. The second test will be played at Mohali from October 17. The third will be played at Delhi and the last one at Nagpur from November 6.Srinath said former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly would try to get back into the national squad despite being omitted from the Rest of India squad chosen to face Ranji Trophy winners Delhi in the five-day Irani Cup game from September 24.

"There would be bit of expectations of the selectors, expectations of players. I think there will be some differences in the timings of quitting game so that would be construed as someone playing for too long. I think the players always want to fight it out and wants to be there as long as possible and that's what he has been doing for so many years so if Saurav is dropped he has every right to come back into the game," he said. Ganguly was among the senior batsmen who fared poorly in last month's 2-1 Test series defeat in Sri Lanka. Irani Cup performances are likely to form the basis for selecting the squad for the Test series against Australia.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, all rounder Andrew Symonds has been dropped from the Australian squad for India tour. Cricket Australia named the following cricket squad on Friday for the upcoming tour: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice captain), Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.

ANI