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One of the big clashes in the early stages of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy is the New Zealand-Australia encounter at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds. While England have already begun to focus a lot of their attention on the upcoming Ashes tour, the Australians are keen to take it one game at a time. After all, their island neighbours have always played at their best when they have been up against it. With New Zealand having several batsmen who play pace with ease in their ranks, Shane Warne becomes a central figure in the clashes involving the two sides.

The charismatic leggie, who has provided hours of entertainment on the field and some of the tastiest sound bites off it, was relaxed, collected and yet raring to go when he spoke to pressmen at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo. And he was not one to underestimate his opposition.

"I like bowling to Craig McMillan, I've had some success against him, but he's a dangerous player, and Cairns as well. It doesn't help New Zealand that those two aren't here. They still have some good players though. They always lift their game when they play against Australia and it's a tough game for us first up. New Zealand have always been one of the hardest teams for us to beat. Stephen Fleming is probably the best captain in world cricket. He'll have plans for every single player," Warne observed.

Just recently, the Aussies were in fine fettle in Kenya, firing on all cylinders. As their batsmen merrily plundered hapless opposition bowling and pacemen Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath regularly upset the timber, Warne himself used the chance to get ready for the Champions Trophy.

"We played pretty well in Kenya. Bowled Pakistan out cheaply twice. We need to do pretty much the same and keep going. It was a good tournament to play leading up to this. We all got a chance to get some match practice on turf wickets and clear the cobwebs that come from not playing for a period," said Warne.

Although, he was quick to add that being away from the game did not mean putting his feet up, sipping lager and watching the telly. "I've been training twice a day for the last six months. I've been in good form with both the bat and ball in the last year or so. I think I bowled some good spells and some bad ones in Kenya but it was ideal preparation for this tournament," he said.

With a shoulder injury ruling out bowling, Warne took the opportunity to work on his batting and catching in the slips - two things he says that give him immense pleasure. "All my coaches tell me I've been underachieving with the bat. In the last twelve months I've got some runs. I still didn't get a hundred but it was good to get a 99. Couple of 80s and 70s as well. I've worked really hard at playing the short ball - hooking and pulling. Worked with Ian Chappell and had very good chat with him on that. With Gilchrist coming in late in the order in Tests, it's important for us tail-enders to bat a bit and give him support."

It is the sort of planning and execution that has given Australia an edge over all the other sides in international cricket, South Africa included. "The edge we've got over South Africa is basically because we've beaten them in every form of the game - except for that tie in the World Cup. I feel we've got the wood on South Africa. They're still a great team. They intimidate other teams but I think we intimidate them. As the home country they'll be very tough to beat in the World Cup," Warne suggested.

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Talking of intimidation, there is one man coming up against whom gave Warne nightmares. When you listen to Warne speak of Tendulkar, you are clearly able to discern the existence of a special bond of sorts between the two.

"I don't know if I've always been in awe of him. I respect his cricket and we get on well off the field. We've both got respect for each other. We've both been around for a long time now and I think we both admire each other. To me, he's the best player of our generation. People who have played with Bradman and Ian Chappell and those sort of guys would say they were the best. I think it's unfair to compare eras. Any good player in any era would adjust and be a fine, excellent player. To me, Sachin is the best player and daylight's second," Warne said.

Small wonder, then, that the ace leggie picked Tendulkar as the hardest batsman to bowl to, while adding Navjot Sidhu, Chris Cairns, Graham Gooch and Dave Houghton to that list. Of that list, Warne can only come up against Tendulkar in this tournament. If he does, you can be sure there will be some fireworks.

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