Defending champion Australia has been paired in the same group as rival India for this year's Champions Trophy, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Thursday. Pakistan and runner-up West Indies are also in Group A for the sixth edition of the biennial tournament, which is to be hosted by Pakistan in September-October this year. “Group A comprises Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies while South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England form Group B,” the ICC said in a statement released from its headquarters in Dubai. The groupings were decided on the basis of the official one-day rankings as of March 12, an ICC news release said. India beat host Australia to lift a tri-series tournament earlier this month and is now considered the greatest threat to Australia's dominance. Australia defeated the West Indies to take its maiden Champions Trophy title in 2006 in India. The eight teams in the 2008 trophy will play on a round-robin basis with two teams from each group progressing to the semifinals. The full tournament schedule and venues will be announced later, the ICC said. Host Pakistan, meanwhile, is confident other teams in the Trophy can persuade Australia to compete in the tournament. Earlier this week Australia, concerned about security, postponed its tour of Pakistan which had been due to start this month. A high-level ICC (International Cricket Council) delegation will visit Pakistan from March 20 to look at security and other arrangements for the Champions Trophy.‘Australia defensive' Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar saw signs that Australia was getting more defensive during his team's tour that ended this month. Australia, the top-ranked Test and one-day team, clinched the Tests 2-1 but the tourists won the tri-series finals 2-0. “Australian teams have always been competitive. Probably in 1991, they did not go on the defensive if an Indian batsman played a couple of shots,” Tendulkar told The Hindu in an interview on Thursday. “In the recent series, however, they immediately posted a deep point. This did not happen in 1999 and 2003,” he said. “This was the first time they set a scattered field. This has been the big change.” The 34-year-old, who holds a series of batting records, has been on all four Australia tours since 1991 and stamped his authority this time with centuries in both Tests and one-dayers. “If one looks back at the series, we challenged them more than they did us,” he said, adding he felt the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne would allow teams to attack Australia more. He advised his young teammates not to get carried away by the euphoria of their tri-series win. “That is good and in a way bad as well,” he said. “We need to look back and find out how many youngsters have made it to the Indian team as teenagers and have gone on to play for a long time. “(Teenaged fast bowler) Ishant Sharma had a terrific tour, his future looks very good. But it is equally important, not only for him but everyone else, not to get carried away.” __
