Anil Kumble is unhappy with the speculation about the senior cricketers

Calcutta/Bangalore: The normally cool Anil Kumble, Team India’s Test captain, exploded on Thursday.

He was reacting to speculation about an ‘honourable exit’ being worked out for the seniors and said such “rubbish” reports are bound to hurt the players.

Kumble told the media to be a bit more respectful towards the senior cricketers and made it clear that Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion in the 15-member squad was not part of any compromise formula.

“You need to be a bit more respectful. When people discuss cricketers, they need to be handled respectfully,” an angry Kumble told reporters here.

“If that’s done, we don’t mind scrutiny. But, when it’s done rubbishly and the way it’s been quoted, then it hurts,” he said.

He slammed the media for speculating on Sourav’s inclusion for the first two Tests against Australia.

“He was part of the last Test match as well. He is part of this series also. No difference... I don’t see any change. Media reports say a lot of things. I can’t really divulge what happened in the selection committee meeting,” he added.

It may be noted that The Telegraph had quoted Sourav as rubbishing talk that he was in the squad after striking a deal with the board — specifically, that he’d be retained on condition that he would quit later this season.

“There’s absolutely no truth in what’s being said,” Sourav said.

Kumble defended the selection of the seniors and said their failure in Sri Lanka did not warrant their exclusion from such an important series against Australia.

“In terms of senior players’ performance, they performed exceptionally well. It’s just one bad series that we had in Sri Lanka, and if you go by the (overall) record that you have, I don’t think these players have performed badly.

“The reason that you had these (good) results in Australia... is thanks to the batsmen getting those runs. It’s never been a problem,” he said.

With the narrow series loss Down Under early this year still fresh in the mind, Kumble said his side is all geared up to set the record straight against the visiting Australians in the four-match Test series beginning here on October 9.

“We have a very good chance (to win the series). Probably this is our best chance to go out there and win. We have come pretty close to that in the last couple of series that we played against them. This is a great opportunity for us,” Kumble said after the team’s practice session.

“I think we have the quality to win, whether the pitch favours us or not. We have done exceptionally well against Australia, considering that we played on different surfaces every time,” he added.

He said India were looking forward to playing good and competitive cricket, taking the benefit of home advantage.

Asked about former India coach Greg Chappell joining Australian ranks as assistant coach, Kumble was unperturbed. “We are concerned about what we are preparing. We are not worried about who is helping the Australians or what’s happening in their camp. As far as we are concerned, we would like to focus on our strengths.”

It was a day of optional net practice for India. Virender Sehwag took the day off, while Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh only batted.