Indian team already planning to counter an Oz side without Symonds: Kirsten

Gary Kirsten, the coach of the Indian cricket team, believes that the absence of Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds from the forthcoming series between Australia and India could ease some tension.

Melbourne, Sept.5 : Gary Kirsten, the coach of the Indian cricket team, believes that the absence of Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds' from the forthcoming series between Australia and India could ease some tension.

Kirsten said his team is already preparing to exploit some potential vulnerabilities in an Australian side that is expected to be without Symonds.

"To not have those types of individuals means they are going to be replaced by more inexperienced players, so we will hopefully be able to exploit (that)," The Age quoted Kirsten, as saying.

"We all know with the Australian set-up that they always replace those individuals with quality players, but in the heat of Test match battle sometimes experience counts for a lot," he added.

Symonds was an influential figure with the bat in the most recent series, striking 162 not out in the Sydney Test, and a protagonist in the drama that followed, as the target of Harbhajan Singh's monkey taunt.

His apparent disenchantment stems partly from the feeling he was not fully supported by Cricket Australia in the aftermath, when the racial-abuse charge against Harbhajan was downgraded.

His enforced break follows a series of incidents ending with the fishing trip that kept him from attending a team meeting in Darwin.

"One thing we must always be aware of is the game is bigger than the individual," said Kirsten.

His absence is likely to pave the way for all-rounder Shane Watson's return to the Test squad, with batsmen Shaun Marsh and David Hussey also pushing for selection.

ANI