espnstar.com’s Rajarshi Gupta caught up with New South Wales Blues skipper Simon Katich for an exclusive chat.

The left-handed Test opener belongs to a rare breed of Aussie cricketers. Soft spoken and completely unassuming, he holds his own in a conversation and knows how to hold his ground.

Katich looked back at the tough times Australia have been through in the recent past and felt the team has missed controversial all-rounder Andrew Symonds more in the ODI's than in Test cricket.

"I think the team has really missed Symonds in the ODI's. Marcus North has come up nicely in the middle order in the Test squad but Symonds' absence has been a major blow in the limited overs."

Katich, who will lead his team in the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 in a few days from now said Symonds has been misunderstood by the media and certain other sections.

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"Look, we have a lot of youngsters in the team and they like to be on their Play-Stations while some of us older players want to have a little chat and catch up over a beer and that's about it," Katich said in defence of his Aussie team-mate, who was sent home from England during the ICC World Twenty20.

Subsequently, Australia were knocked out of the tournament in the first round and many thought, Symonds' departure had a lot to do with the failure. Katich did not disagree.

"Yes, I think that would have had an effect. Symonds is a great player and you need him to be firing for you."

Speaking of his team's chances at the final of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand, Katich did not betray any sign of overconfidence.

"Well, I think the Kiwis are going to be tough to beat. They played well against Pakistan in the semi-finals and their bowling looks pretty sharp."

Australia and New Zealand have been involved in some tight games this year and the Kiwis have come up rather well against their more powerful neighbours Down Under but Katich feels Ricky Ponting's men will leave nothing to chance.

"It's cricket and anything can happen. We'll just have to wait and see how things churn out at Centurion," Katich said.

Australia will try to defend the Trophy, which they won for the first time back in India in 2006 while New Zealand won the event in 2000.

Katich also sounded upbeat about New South Wales' chances at the Champions League Twenty20, saying his boys are ready for the challenge.

"The CL T20 will be great fun and it will be very competitive. There are some very powerful squads in the fray and though the IPL teams will have the home advantage, you can expect some fierce cricket from all 12 teams."

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The Aussies are all over town.

From the players in the New South Wales Blues and the Victoria Bushrangers to the administrators, from the journalists to the officials, from the photographers to the fans, every Australian in New Delhi is glued up to what's coming.

The immediate focus is on how tonight's final shapes up but rest assured, they will be just as hungry when the two ‘arch rivals' (NSW and the Bushrangers) bring it on at the Champions League Twenty20.

As for Symonds, well the Deccan Chargers know what he is worth. Maybe, Australia's cricket administrators will sit up too.