Australia ready for spin challenge

Gilchrist said experience of playing Mumbai spinners should stand the squad in good stead when they square up against Harbhajan and Kumble.

Australian skipper Adam Gilchrist on Friday said the experience of playing Mumbai spinners should stand the squad in good stead when they square up against the redoubtable Indian duo of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble in the Test series commencing at Bangalore next week.

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"We had a quality time out in the middle against the spinners. Now it depends on how we take this lesson into the series. We have come with a game plan on tackling the Indian spinners. It depends on how we execute it," the flamboyant left-handed batsman said.

Gilchrist said he was happy with his team's outing against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, especially his top order batsmen's ability to tackle the spinning ball, in the three-day match that ended in a draw on Friday.

"It was good to start the tour like this. We lost half a day due to rains. Otherwise there could have been a result. Still we had a few good days here. We also got to do what we set out to do at the beginning. We are pretty happy," he told reporters after the match.