World champion Australia is looking to put India's veterans under pressure when the eagerly-awaited four-Test series opens here on Thursday. Captain Ricky Ponting said his team was determined to expose the old legs of skipper Anil Kumble, who turns 38 this month, Sachin Tendulkar, 35, retiring Sourav Ganguly, 36, Rahul Dravid, 35, and Venkatsai Laxman, 33. “That's what we're trying to achieve, put their older guys under immense pressure,” Ponting, 33, said at a match-eve media conference at the Chinnaswamy stadium. “I really think we can take them on in the field, almost a new-age type of Test cricket that can make a few of their guys look a bit old and a bit slow. “I really think we can create pressure on them with our intensity in the field at different times and make them look past their use-by date. “At the team meeting, we spoke of our running between wickets and drying up the runs by the Indian batsmen by our fielding. That could be the key. “We know if we do that, and make little things stand out, their whole media over here will just jump on them, especially if they lose an early game.” Tendulkar, with 11,877 runs from 150 matches, goes into the series needing just 77 more to overtake retired West Indian Brian Lara as Test cricket's most successful batsman. Australia, hoping to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, will choose between untested rookies Cameron White and Jason Krejza to fill up the lone spinner's spot. The good news for Australia is that vice captain Michael Clarke has now recovered from a stomach virus and all-rounder Shane Watson has been declared fit to play his first Test in three years after suffering a chest infection. Australia omitted opener Phil Jaques from the 12 announced on Wednesday, leaving Simon Katich to partner Matthew Hayden at the top of the order. India narrowed their 15-man squad to 13, leaving out seamer Rudra Pratap Singh and batsman Subramaniam Badrinath. Both teams will finalize their starting XI just before the toss on Thursday after another look at the wicket that appears moist due to heavy rain over the last two days. “It's been watered a bit and with all the humidity around, it should help the seamers a bit,” said Ponting. Meanwhile, an angry Indian captain Anil Kumble lashed out at the media on Wednesday for dwelling on the retirement plans of senior players ahead of the upcoming Australia series. Kumble, who turns 38 on October 17, was bombarded with questions of his future at a press meet, following Ganguly's decision to call it quits after the series. “I will not say yes or no,” Kumble retorted to a question from an Indian reporter if the Australian series would also be his last. “I will let you know when I play my last series. Let the players decide when they want to go.” Speculation about Kumble's future mounted on Wednesday when he wrote in the Hindustan Times that this would be his last Test in his home city of Bangalore. “By the time you read this on Wednesday, some hours would have passed since Sourav announced that this would be his last series,” Kumble wrote. The Indian captain said the team's focus was entirely on winning the four-Test series against world champion Australia. Ponting feels insulted Australia captain Ricky Ponting says he is insulted by claims from India batsman Virender Sehwag that Australia cheated during their 2-1 cricket series victory in January. Sehwag on Wednesday said India suffered the most in a “catching pact” during his team's tour of Australia, whereby the opposing captains agreed to take the fielder's word on the legitimacy of close, low catches. “There is no point in having such an arrangement when the Australians are claiming one-bounce catches,” Sehwag told local broadcaster ESPN-STAR. “We'd have won the Sydney Test match if they hadn't claimed catches taken off half-volleys in that game.” “That's fairly insulting,” Ponting said of the comments.
