'Spending a week in Mumbai has been great'

There is no revenge plot in cricket. Everybody takes the field to win, irrespective of what has gone by, and the main motive is to enjoy the game.

It's unusual for us to be playing against the world champions, and that does add to today's game, but there is no connection between this game and the semifinal loss at the T20 World Cup.

Like every game we play, we will be out there to win it, and if we manage that, we feel it would deflate the Indians ahead of their summer tour down under.

We have been practicing at the Brabourne Stadium over the last couple of days, and the wicket looks bouncier, faster and harder than the one we played on during the Champions Trophy last year.

Run chase

It will be a great track to bat one and is tailor-made for this format.

Matthew Hayden has been training and practicing well for the last two days.

Unless he pulls up sore in the morning, which is unlikely, he will be back in the playing eleven. James Hopes, who pulled his hamstring during Wednesday's game, will be missed, and we have to decide whether we go in with four pacers or with Brad Hogg.

The defeat at the Wankhede Stadium the other night was particularly disappointing because we were ahead of the Indians for most of the run chase.

The injury to Hopes came at the wrong time, and we were one bowler short in the end. The run chase by the Indians proved once again that the smaller totals are the hardest to chase, and it was good for them that the late order managed to take them past the target.

I had said in my last column that winning a series in India is a huge achievement for us. However, I fear that the significance of that achievement might be lost in the non-cricket issues that have distracted some fans, and most decidedly the media.

Great fun

The first part of the tour was dominated by stories of aggression and verbal exchanges, and the latter half by more sinister allegations of racism.

Andrew Symonds, who is in the eye of the storm, has tried to distance himself from all these issues.

He has played outstanding cricket right through this series, and though he was disappointed at being booed when he was declared man of the series, he has taken it on the chin and in looking ahead to the next game.

Personally, it's been a very enjoyable, satisfying tour, and spending a week in Mumbai at the end of the series has been great fun. We are proud of the brand of cricket we played in this series, and hopefully, will be able to carry that form and momentum to the field one more time.