ICC World Cup: Formidable India take on mighty Australia in epic semis clash

Sydney In top form after blowing away rival teams one after another India will face their toughest test when the defending champions take on a formidable Australia in what promises to be an explosive semifinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup here tomorrowOne of international crickets fiercest rivalries will resume after six weeks when Mahendra Singh Dhonis men will get down to business against Michael Clarkes team which will be supremely competitive with some highquality performers in their ranksMichael Clarke MS Dhoni Pic AFPWhile the Ashes rivalry has history attached with it and IndiaPakistan contests their own political flavour the India versus Australia rivalry has been equally intriguing in recent years where an inch wont be given without a bullish fight Expect a few battles inside the main battle It could be between Ravichandran Ashwins carrom ball against Glenn Maxwells pyrotechnicsDavid Warners savage attack against Mohammed Shamis probing length or Michael Clarkes years of experience against Ravindra Jadejas restrictive lines also has ingredients of a blockbuster Not to forget Mitchell Starcs guile against Virat Kohlis flair All eyes will be on Kohli who has not got a 50 plus score after his century against Pakistan in the first game of the tournamentHowever bigger the occasion blade of Kohlis bat becomes wider The Delhi lad loves a good scrap and nothing better than hammering a quality Australian attack on which he has feasted all summerA semifinal of a World Cup is not played on paper and therefore there would be very little to separate the two teams when they square off at the Sydney Cricket Ground SCG It will be a match where current form will be pitted against recent statistics which makes it a Battle Royale before the summit clash against New Zealand at the MCG on March 29On basis of current form India with seven straight wins have been the team of the tournament so far but when it comes to playing Australia they have not won a single match in seven encounters across two formats which also includes a warmup game of the mega event played some 43 days ago These matches include four Tests out of which two were won by the hosts two ODIs of the triseries and warmup match unofficial before the start of the tournament properBut the memories of a horrendous Australian Summer have long been replaced with the celebration of stupendous performances in the World Cup where there were abject surrender by a few and clinical decimation of some other rivalsThe Indian team can be segregated into two divisions while analysing the turn of events during the past four months Down Under the preWorld Cup phase where everything went haywire and the World Cup phase where everything seemed to have fallen in placeThe bowling that used to be the perennial weakness for Men In Blue has now turned into their strength Mohammed Shami with 17 wickets along with Umesh Yadav 14 and Mohit Sharma 11 have accounted for 42 victims out of the 70 that India attained in seven gamesFor Australia the biggest test at home will be playing on a SCG surface that might not be to their liking The low and slow nature of the track was on view when South Africa humbled Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals with Imran Tahir and JP Duminy taking four and three wickets respectivelyWhile pacers have ruled the roost for India Thursdays match could just tilt in tourists favour because of the presence of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja Especially Ashwin with 12 wickets could prove to be a handful for the Aussies with his drifters and doosras The pitch has shown signs of ball stopping and gripping which would make Ashwin and his spin partner Jadejas role very important in the bigger context of the matchSimilarly Australia can suffer due to lack of specialist spinners for the slowish track Equally important will be how Steve Smith the man with best footwork against spinners counters the IndiansMajority of the experts including England captain Michael Vaughan have said that the team which wins the toss should bat first irrespective of the conditions The Indians have so far has done well in the tournament on that front with the toporder batsmen getting at least one big score in seven matches that they have played so far Shikhar Dhawan leads the pack with 367 runs but it wont be an easy task for the lefthander who has had problems in negotiating moving deliveries in the offstump corridor Starc and Johnson would certainly be asking probing questions to DhawanRohit Sharma had a quiet tournament till the quarterfinals where he came into his own with a flowing 137 The Aussies will remember well that Rohit smashed them for a 138 at MCG during the triseries opener after which he sustained a hamstring injuryFor Australia one of the potential game changers is Glenn Maxwell who is well aware about the pros and cons of Indian bowling attack having played a lot against them in IPL Similarly Mitchell Starc and David Warner on their day can destroy any opposition with the ball and bat respectively Shane Watsons return to form is also a positive sign for the home teamStarcs 18 wickets in the tournament have been a testimony to his ability He has brought the ball back into the right hander at a speed of around 145 kmph His yorkers have been lethal and would make someone like a Waqar Younis proudAs the tournament reaches the climax with only two matches left some questions will be answered by Sunday Whether Michael Clarke can shut all those who are skeptical about his place in the ODI side or Mahendra Singh Dhoni can attain immortality by leading the team to backtoback World Cup finalsA nice script is in place the star cast is of brilliant quality and now it all boils down the performance delivered on the grand SCG stage