November 30, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1428

KOLKATA, Nov 29: Indian captain Anil Kumble on Thursday said the retirement of Inzamam-ul-Haq has left the visiting Pakistan team vulnerable in their middle order.

”It affects the team when somebody of such stature retires from international cricket. But at the same time I’ll say that they are a good team,” Kumble said at the customary media conference on the eve of the second Test at the Eden Gardens.

Despite the six-wicket win in Delhi, the skipper said the team needed to be on the guard as the match was tighter than it seemed at the end.

He rubbished a query on MS Dhoni’s fitness, saying this was the first time he was hearing it.

Kumble praised Saurav Ganguly for doing well with the ball in the Kotla Test, and hoped that the seasoned pro would be able to gain more success with the cherry at the Eden.

Kumble ducked a bouncer from a scribe who sought to know whether Ganguly had been underbowled during earlier regimes.

“There is always a question mark on whether somebody is underbowling or overbowling. Some people think I overbowled in the last game. Some think I overbowled. You always have two sides of a coin. What matters is everybody contributing. And at the end of the day the bottomline is the team should win.”

Kumble supported Gary Kirsten’s candidature as national coach to succeed Greg Chappell.

South African Kirsten was interviewed for the job on Monday and a decision is expected later this week when senior board officials meet.—Agencies