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Arsenal will still be without first-choice right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu this afternoon…

What’s the latest?

That’s according to Premier League injury expert Ben Dinnery, who relayed key information from Mikel Arteta’s pre-game press conference ahead of today’s clash with Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.

“Takehiro Tomiyasu continues to be hampered by an ongoing calf complaint,” he tweeted alongside comments from the Spanish head coach. “We’re still assessing him because we’re taking some time to protect him.”

Huge blow

The Japan international has been absent for each of their last five top-flight outings with a pair of injuries to both his calves.

Now valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, the 23-year-old has proven to be a reliable and influential member of not just the Gunners’ defence but the squad as a whole.

He is one of the many summer signings to have helped completely transform the team and their fortunes on the pitch.

Whilst Arsenal have plenty of games in hand on their nearby rivals, this encounter is pivotal in the race for the top four as three points would see them leapfrog Manchester United, who defeated Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, into fourth place.

They would then only be a handful of points behind third-placed Chelsea with a couple of games in hand.

Their chances of success against a Foxes side who have turned a corner in recent weeks is made difficult without Tomiyasu’s influence down the right flank.

As per WhoScored, he currently ranks as their fourth-best performer on the campaign so far, only bettered by Hale End duo Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, and assist-king Alexandre Lacazette.

No one is winning more aerial duels (2.7 per game) or tackles (1.9 per game) in the current Gunners squad, whilst 0.7 key passes and crosses per outing suggests he can have some involvement in the final third, too.

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“Tomi is amazing. He’s the best right-back I’ve ever played with. He’s always focused. It’s an honour to play next to him,” teammate Benjamin White told DAZN Japan earlier in the year.

On the above evidence, still not having the Japanese right-back available is certainly going to be a gutting blow to Arteta.

AND in other news, Signed for £30m, now worth £59m: Edu struck gold on “incredible” £79k-p/w “baller”…

	Jason Gillespie, who is for sale in the IPL auction on February 20, is certain the Twenty20 tournament will “really take off” © Getty Images

The push for an international window to stage the Indian Premier League is growing with Cricket Australia signalling its willingness to join talks about rearranging the ICC’s Future Tours Programme. The board has yet to release its players, including the soon-to-be-retired Adam Gilchrist, for the inaugural tournament in April amid concerns over protection of its sponsors.There are high-level negotiations between Cricket Australia and the IPL, who are demanding the Australians sign by Sunday or miss out, over this year’s event, but future series of the Twenty20 competition may experience fewer set-up problems. Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, has suggested the six-week international break and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations also supports the move.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, is now ready to debate the merits of the idea, which if implemented would keep the players happy. The issue is likely to come up when the chief executives of the game’s major countries meet next week in Kuala Lumpur.”James Sutherland is willing to participate in discussion and debate about creating a window in the Future Tours Programme so players can play in the IPL, as long as it is a window that recognises the genuine interests of the FTP and all ten ICC nations,” the Cricket Australia public affairs manager Peter Young told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We are still of the view that [the contract disagreement] is capable of resolution. It’s going to be tough, but we believe we can get through.”Jason Gillespie, who will be for sale to a franchise in the player auction on February 20, supports the idea of a Test and ODI break. “It’s certainly worth considering as this thing will really take off,” Gillespie said in the Herald Sun. “It’s a positive for the game and I think administrators are embracing Twenty20.”The amounts on offer from the IPL for a six-week competition dwarf players’ national payments and have already led to complaints from some Australians about the board’s slow pace at solving the current problem. However, if Australia’s tour of Pakistan goes ahead the negotiations will have been redundant as the trip clashes with the tournament.

Kevin Pietersen’s impressive form has helped him into the No. 1 spot for ODI batsmen © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen has become only the third England batsman to top the ICC ODI player rankings, after his solid start to the World Cup. Pietersen made half-centuries against New Zealand and Kenya to take a narrow four-point lead from Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey.He is the first England player to head the list since Marcus Trescothick, who had a brief one-match stay there in 2005. Allan Lamb was the only other England batsman to achieve the feat and that was in 1989.The success of Australia’s top order has cost Hussey, who dropped from No. 1 down to third spot. The earliest Hussey has made his way to the crease in the first three matches was in the 44th over against Scotland, and he has not yet reached double-figures.Shaun Pollock remains a long way ahead of the pack in the bowling rankings, despite his costly performance against Australia. Shane Bond and Muttiah Muralitharan shot to equal second from seventh and ninth places respectively.South Africa need only to beat Sri Lanka on Wednesday to secure top position in the team rankings for the April 1 cut-off date, when the No. 1 side is awarded US$175,000. Australia could overtake South Africa, however, if results fall their way.

Scorecard

Matthew Bell played a captain’s innings © Getty Images

A century stand between Matthew Bell, the Wellington captain, and Jesse Ryder gave way for a middle-order collapse at the hands of Central Districts on the third day at the Basin Reserve. Bell struck a patient 93 and Ryder 73 before Central Districts came to the party and left Wellington on 284 for 8, still 28 runs adrift of their first-innings 312, on day curtailed by bad light.Bell began the day on 51 and pushed himself towards a third hundred for the season while Ryder progressed to his own fifty. What began as a positive start to the day turned to a chalky collapse as Ryder was bowled by Min Patel’s slow left-arm spin with the score on 174 for 3.Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton then struck further blows to send back Michael Parlane and Chris Nevin before Patel trapped Grant Elliot lbw. Bell and Stu Mills (24), the Wellington wicketkeeper, began to forge a useful partnership before Mason returned to dismiss Mills lbw. Mills struggled to score but spent valuable time and the crease where his middle and lower order team-mates struggled.Mason finished with 3 for 63, Hamilton 2 for 60 and Patel 2 for 57 as CD restricted Wellington from a strong position. Dewayne Bownde (13) and Scott Rasmussen (0) were at the crease when bad light ended the third day.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A Ricky Ponting masterclass sent New Zealand scurrying for cover© Getty Images

Ricky Ponting blazed a thrilling hundred as the series-deciding Test roared into life at Auckland. Australia hacked the first-innings target to 73 in a drastic reversal of the slow but absorbing first day, with Ponting piloting them at almost five an over during his stay.New Zealand took four sessions to reach 292; Australia ran to 219 for 4 in two. Ponting chased like it was a one-day total and, with him in a blistering flow, they sprinted to 143 for 2 in the session before tea. Despite rearranging his spinners and medium-pacers, Stephen Fleming found no way to stop the scoring until Nathan Astle prised out Ponting for 105.Opening with a hooked six over fine-leg, Ponting raced to his half-century from 58 balls with seven fours and a second slap into the grandstand behind square leg. It was an emphatic reply to the Kiwis’ grafting, which included 199 from 90 overs yesterday, as he greedily attacked his 22nd century.Ponting enjoyed a chance when Tama Canning, standing at gully as a replacement, let a wild drive slice through his hands and the other disruption was a delay to cover glare from a grandstand rail. An awkward swipe – his only ugly streak – brought him three figures, as the ball narrowly sailed over midwicket. He had been held up slightly in the 90s, was desperate to move forward and raised his bat on his 104th ball.It was an innings that Adam Gilchrist has matched – but few others. The short boundaries looked even smaller with Ponting’s glances, off-drives and swings through midwicket. His third six came from James Franklin and his fourth was a powerful sweep off Daniel Vettori, but he was at his best when driving. A fine piece of work by Brendon McCullum standing up to Astle ended the jaw-dropping.The rate quickly slowed on Ponting’s departure and Damien Martyn contributed 38 until he was deceived by a sharp-turning offspinner. Paul Wiseman had waited two Tests for his chance and, with Astle and Daniel Vettori, turned Australia’s attack into defence. Michael Clarke was carefully trying to play his way into form and Jason Gillespie was sent in as nightwatchman with 7.2 overs remaining. At stumps Clarke was 18 and Gillespie 1.Clarke has scored 106 runs in his last seven innings and Hayden will also be pleased the season is coming to a close after a disjointed summer. His early stages were a struggle before he unleashed some punishing boundaries and a big, fast score seemed a formality until he missed an angling Franklin delivery heading for the stumps. The mood of Langer was upbeat, but he was also undone by Franklin. The left-arm angle was again the problem and he played on for the second time in the series.

Glenn McGrath hastened New Zealand’s end, giving his batsmen a mid-sized total to chase© Getty Images

It was a poor start but Australia rebounded after Glenn McGrath ordered the tail-end charge as they wrapped up New Zealand’s innings by lunch. Setting up his figures with 17 runs in 24 overs on day one, McGrath stepped in to diffuse the dangers of Nathan Astle and Brendon McCullum, making sure of a medium-sized chase.The unrelenting accuracy pushed Astle into an edge and McCullum fell in a similar way 19 runs later, becoming Adam Gilchrist’s 74th catch off McGrath, who collected 3 for 49 from 34 overs. Shane Warne struck in his first over with a fortunate decision from Jeremy Lloyds against Franklin, and the three wickets set Australia up for a swift conclusion. Wiseman delayed proceedings for 26 runs with Vettori before rushing at Warne and being caught by Gillespie.Vettori has been New Zealand’s shining light during many dark moments on this tour and he again showed his all-round value with an energetic display. Adept at lifting his tail-end team-mates, Vettori sprinkled eight fours around Eden Park and was unbeaten on 41 from 50 balls when the innings ended. New Zealand deserved to be pleased with their efforts until Ponting grabbed the controls.How they were out
New Zealand
Astle c Langer b McGrath 19 (228 for 6)
Nibbled at a good-length ball and went to a two-handed diving catch at third slip.McCullum c Gilchrist b McGrath 19 (247 for 7)
Played slightly ahead of his pad and Gilchrist snapped a clever catch low and to his right.Franklin c Katich b Warne 3 (262 for 8)
Bat-pad decision that didn’t hit wood.Wiseman c Gillespie b Warne 8 (288 for 9)
Down the wicket and skewed a lofted drive to mid-off.Martin c Clarke b Kasprowicz 0 (292)
Defended to point for an easy offering.Australia
Langer b Martin 6 (8 for 1)
Attempted back-foot forcing shot cover but inside-edged on to thigh and stumps.Hayden lbw Franklin 38 (84 for 2)
Hit adjacent and suffered a painfully slow finger raise from Rudi Koertzen.Ponting c McCullum b Astle 105 (187 for 3)
Fired a ball down legside that caught his edge for the sharpest of chances.Martyn b Wiseman 38 (215 for 4)
Leaned back to give himself room, beaten by the spin, under-edged the ball and lost leg bail.

The ICC is to investigate the spat between Andrew Hall and Yousuf Youhana in the second one-day international between Pakistan and South Africa at Lahore on Oct 5. Hall appeared to barge into Youhana after being hit for four, and the two then exchanged views before the umpires stepped in.Malcolm Speed, their chief executive, said that the ICC would wait until a full report is received from the match referee, and will also review the available footage of the incident before deciding if any charges should be laid under the ICC’s Code of Conduct.”Before taking any decision it is important that the ICC is able to obtain the facts and view footage of the incident,” said Speed. “A video of the incident has been requested as a matter of urgency. This footage will be with us by close of business on Wednesday night. Once it is received, we will be in a better position to determine what, if any, action should be taken.”Under the ICC’s Code of Conduct, the chief executive has five days from the close of play on the day an incident took place within which to lay a charge against a player or official. This period was increased from 24 hours in June this year, following an incident in the West Indies between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Glenn McGrath that was not reported by the match officials and was not brought to the ICC’s attention until after the time limit had expired.

In the least likely of all scenarios, South Africa and New Zealand share top spot on the VB series log with four points apiece after two matches in the tournament. Australia, hosts, World Cup champions and outright favourites, have still to break their duck after slipping to their second defeat in three days, this time by four wickets to South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.As was the case when Australia went down to New Zealand on Friday, the home team’s batting failed to spark. On this occasion they were bowled out for 198 in 48.5 overs, a total just about big enough to keep their bowlers interested, but surely insufficient to seriously challenge a confident chasing side.But by no stretch of the imagination could South Africa be regarded as a confident team after their dismal form in the Test series. Shaun Pollock’s side desperately needed someone or something to kick-start their tour and it duly arrived in the shape of Jonty Rhodes.Rhodes missed the Test matches by his own choice, sticking to a decision to spend more time with his family. It might seem impolite to point out the obvious, but the Rhodes family’s gain was quite clearly South Africa’s loss.He started the match a little edgily, missing a square drive from Matthew Hayden early on and then dropping the left-hander at backward point off the last ball of Allan Donald’s first over. From there on in, however, he barely put a foot wrong and his contribution to the South African batting effectively won the match for his side.He has made higher scores than his 43 not out, but the great value of his innings was his reading of the situation and his calmness as the pressure gradually built on the South Africans. He shared a 65-run fourth wicket stand with Neil McKenzie (34) that prevented Australia capitalising on a mini-collapse which saw the chasers slip from 51 for none to 71 for three and stayed there until the end, the winning runs coming by way of four leg byes off his elbow.As well as Rhodes played, though, Australia will feel they didn’t do themselves anything approach justice. They lost Adam Gilchrist to the first ball of the match, rebuilt through Ricky Ponting (51) and Steve Waugh (62) and then lost their last six wickets for 34 from the 40th over onwards.South Africa, it must be said, bowled and fielded with far greater purpose and commitment than they had shown at any stage of the Test series. And again, you have to wonder whether the presence of Rhodes made the difference.Still, South Africa had to make 199 before winning and they were given a respectable start by Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten who put on 51 for the first wicket. Of course, Australia will wonder what difference Glenn McGrath might have made, but their three quick men, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel, all bowled decently enough.Gibbs, who made a 38 which included eight boundaries, never entirely settled, mixing carelessness with a number of handsome strokes, but it was through the McKenzie-Rhodes partnership that South Africa managed to get on top.The South Africans were watchfulness personified against Shane Warne, but Andrew Symonds had clearly been identified as the weak link in the attack and while Warne barely conceded two runs an over through his first nine-over spell, Symonds’ first six overs went at a run a ball.And then Waugh found himself having to pick between Symonds and Michael Bevan to bowl two of the final three overs; this after the 47th over had been a maiden-wicket from Lee.Ultimately Australia had given themselves too much to do and Rhodes was able to take South Africa home with more than an over to spare. What effect this win will have on the remainder of South Africa’s tour remains to be seen, but their relief at breaking a losing habit was almost palpable.

A quick look back at this Test match, with neutral eyes, would tell thecomplete story. One team was totally prepared for the fray, the other shouldnot have even bothered to turn up, since they did not compete. To be honest,Australia probably won this 1st test while the West Indies were still ontheir way to Australia, or even by in the Caribbean. Some explanations aredue. These are not excuses, mind you, but real hard facts. Also, Australiaare not responsible for West Indies cricket.Australia have not played a Test match since March/April, against New Zealandearlier this year. The West Indies not only played against England in theEnglish summer, but even before that, managed to just beat Pakistan at home,via some very dubious decisions, and Zimbabwe too. While Australia did playsome out of season cricket, one day games, at the Colonial Stadium againstSouth Africa in August this year, that was actually very ideal, since itwould have brought their minds back gradually to the task at hand inNovember, when they would be making their assault on the West Indies’ recordof 11 Test wins in succession.In the meantime, after the West Indies returned from England, they played ina one day competition in Kenya, like Australia, but then a one day regionalcompetition in Jamaica. That one day competition in Jamaica should have beenvery instrumental in telling the Caribbean powers-that-be in West Indiescricket that something was amiss. No one heeded the signs.In the Red Stripe Bowl competition just before coming to Australia, there wasonly one century by any batsman at all, over nearly three weeks of cricket.Ironically, that batsman, Junior Murray of the Windward islands, is not evenin Australia. All of the Test players competed for their respectivecountries in that competition. Additionally, in the final set of games, thesemi-finals and finals, none of the teams in “The Final Four” managed to get200 in any 50 over spell. That in itself should have been a warning that theWest Indian batsmen, who comprised most of the batsmen for that finalsegment, that they were not up to speed for a tour of Australia.Then the West Indies had a camp in Jamaica for about a week or so beforecoming to Australia. This was like water on a duck’s back. Already tired,that camp would have done little to entice the West Indian players to eitherbe up for the tour, or to enhance their abilities, already drained from thelast year. Like Australia, they needed pure rest. Unlike Australia, theycould not get it.To add fuel to that fire, if you will, the team’s normal psychologist, Dr.Rudi Webster, was nowhere to be seen. His last assignment was ended just asthe West Indies were losing that tortuous Test match at Lords which turnedaround the team’s English summer after they had beaten England in the 1stTest. The West Indies cricket team has not been good for some time, as SirGary Sobers suggested, but being beaten by England was exactly the laststraw. The team has not been itself since Lords, in June last.Rather weirdly, Dr. Webster is being used at home for the West Indies cricketteam, but not away, fully, where the team has been struggling for the lastseveral years overseas. If anyone could explain that to me, then they couldhave my lost fortunes too. Australia, on the other hand, tries to use theiron-call psychologists as often as they require them. The case of Mark Waugh,with the match-fixing situation, is a case in point.With that kind of preparation, the West Indies were on a tight tether, onlywaiting to explode. Unluckily for them, the Australians knew this too. TheWest Indies were simply not ready at all for the fray. Steve Waugh and hisguys knew that and worked at making it even more difficult for the WestIndies to effect any elasticity and come-back. In a word, the West Indieswere beaten before this first Test started.In 1996, Perth was used for the last Test match. In this tour, pointedly,the West Indies will be struggling there next week to avert anotherhumiliation, via Glen McGrath and Brett Lee. That is not incidental.Australia knows that the West Indies are cannon fodder now, and are using it,as they should, to their advantage. Notice that the best batting pitches,Adelaide and Sydney, will only be used after Australia had calculated thatthey will have broken the record, just in case Brian Lara and co get going.The West Indies batsmen are all in need of rest and some specialpsychological help too. The body language of especially the senior batsmen,and this is even going down to the newer ones too; Ramnaresh Sarwan has losthis way, his confidence and his bounce too; speaks volumes. Notice that theWest Indies bowlers have tried to even things out. Not only are theyhearing, but, seemingly, they are listening. In the meantime, Jimmy Adams,Brian Lara, even Shiv Chanderpaul, at least in the 1st innings, SherwinCampbell, Darren Ganga and Ramnaresh Sarwan seemed somewhat misplacedcollectively.Steve Waugh was brilliant as a captain in this game. His move to bring onStuart MacGill as the first change in the 1st innings was a master stroke,since all expected it to be an all out war with fast bowlers. MacGill dulyrepaid his captain’s cunning and confidence with the prized, almostinvaluable wicket of Sherwin Campbell, probably just less so than that ofLara. Campbell is normally the pebble, as opposed to the rock, that the WestIndies try to build their innings on.When Lara strode to the crease, the psychological trap was already set, asMcGrath had been on a rest break for over a half an hour, ready for theeffort once more. He too did not disappoint. Lara duly edged McGrath’sfirst delivery to him, the batsman badly out of place in foot movement, tothe ‘keeper. That, for all intents and purposes of the game, was that.Waugh had outplayed the entire West Indies cricket team’s hierarchy in just afew overs of the first day. With Lara gone, removed psychologically morethan physically, the rest of the team simply could not be strong enough tocope.As Glenn McGrath, the eventual “Man of the Match” suggested after his sixwickets in the 1st innings; “I will bowl much better than I did today and getmaybe one wicket.” He too knew that, while not really lucky, he had notreally bowled as well as he could to get those wickets. They were not reallypresented to him neither. He and his captain had worked for them long beforethe game started.Perth will be another matter altogether next week. The West Indies have verylittle time to recoup. There is even talk of perhaps a psychologist for theteam being brought in. Talk about closing the door after the horse hasbolted. For the West Indies to catch up now, they will have to work at warpspeed. From very recent testimony, they do not even seem to be able to comewith the speed of Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath.

At the age of 16 years and 236 days, a record was broken in north London but sadly it wasn’t for Tottenham Hotspur.

A young player by the name of Reece Oxford took to the turf of the Emirates Stadium where he faced Spurs’ great rivals, Arsenal, in the claret and blue of West Ham United.

It was a moment that has gone down in history and is the very definition of a ‘streets won’t forget’ moment in the Premier League era.

Oxford became one of the Hammers’ youngest ever players and in the Premier League’s existence, he was the eighth youngest ever.

The sad thing is, that debut could well have been for Spurs.

Indeed, in a parallel universe somewhere Oxford is the pride and joy of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium but in reality, he’s now playing for Augsburg in the Bundesliga.

Once upon a time, the 23-year-old was on the books of Spurs but left for nothing all the way back when he was just 13, being rejected by those within the academy.

Since then, his value has continued to rocket and since his debut in 2015, a match where he in the words of German outlet Kicker, he “pocketed” a prime Mesut Ozil, his estimations have increased the best part of a whopping 966%.

It has to be said that Oxford’s career hasn’t quite lived up to the hype since that famous display in Islington and although he wouldn’t now get in the Spurs first XI, the decision to reject him all those years ago is clearly a mistake.

West Ham know how to spot a young player when they see one but he is undoubtedly a player the Lilywhites could have utilised themselves or fetched a pretty eye-catching sum of money for.

Described as “truly astonishing” by Gary Lineker following his debut against the Gunners, it was thought that Oxford would go from strength to strength. However, despite his meteoric rise in transfer value, he is now battling against the odds to live up to his early promise.

He has appeared in all but four of Augsburg’s league matches this term due to injury but is now finally starting to make a name for himself again.

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The titanic 6 foot 4 centre half has shown astute defensive qualities, winning 2.8 aerial battles a game and 2.8 interceptions per match.

As a result, the youngster has now played more senior matches this term than any other campaign during his career.

On the evidence above, suggesting Tottenham should have kept for a little while longer is an easy argument to make; he could have made Levy millions.

AND in other news, Conte could unearth his next Eriksen at Tottenham by unleashing 17 y/o “whole package”…

	Anil Kumble couldn’t have written a better script for the Perth Test, claiming his 600th wicket and leading his team to a famous win © AFP

He’s been around for close to 18 years, in a career spanning 124 Tests, but Anil Kumble had no hesitation in calling the victory at Perth as his “best win ever”. He felt his side had adapted better to the conditions but said it was more satisfying because of what had gone on before.Kumble, it must be mentioned, wasn’t part of the historic triumph in Kolkata in 2001 but put this win ahead of other memorable contests from the past. He also added that his team now had the claim to being the second best side in the world. “It’s right at the top,” he said when asked to place this win in context. “It’s not just overseas but when I look back at wherever I was involved, both home and away, it’s right up there. Definitely, I think we have competed well with Australia. It’s important we take this momentum forward and square the series.”The most important thing – after what had happened in Sydney – was to play good cricket. We wanted to show that the Indian cricket team is a good Test unit. Even in Sydney, we put in a good effort but didn’t get the result that we wanted. What’s heartening is that we’ve shown that in what’s regarded as the home turf for Australia.”It’s been close to 11 years since Australia last lost a Test in Perth and few gave India a chance when they got here. Kumble, though, felt his side had read the conditions perfectly. “We came fully prepared what to expect,” he said. “Maybe people had other things in their mind but we knew that this was not that kind of a quick, bouncy track. It was important to pitch the ball up and swing it. We did that. And the batsmen stood up to all the challenges that came their way.”Did he have any hesitation about batting first on this surface? “Not really. We have the quality and experience in the team,” he said. “There are four [players] with more than 100 Tests and others who have been around for a while. It’s important we all got together and played good cricket. It was important we batted first on this pitch and knew if we put runs on the board, we could apply pressure on the Aussies.”What made this win even more astonishing is that it came on the back of a serious crisis. The mercury levels had risen after the Sydney Test and there was speculation that the tour was in doubt. Within a few days though, especially after India dropped the charge against Brad Hogg, it was clear they wanted to move on. “We were determined to win much before even Melbourne,” he said, “but it was important we stuck together in the week in Sydney and Canberra.”Going to Canberra was probably a good thing for us,” he said. “We were away from everybody. We did discuss how we’re going to go forward, how to play as a team. That’s when we had decided we’ll concentrate on cricket. We focussed all our efforts into concentrating on this game. I did discuss it individually and also collectively. I’m delighted they all came together. We needed to think positively and the kind of bonding we had is special.”Would he put the Indo-Australian rivalry ahead of India-Pakistan, especially given the recent contests? “It’s very difficult to take away the kind of equation we have in India-Pakistan [matches]. But India-Australia is about the kind of cricket that is played. At Sydney the game went right down to the wire, probably [till the] last five minutes, and here too. The thing when you play a side like Australia is you need to keep the intensity right throughout the game.”