Australia v India Preview, Semi-final, Sydney

Australia did have a very interesting addition to its training session on Wednesday afternoon. A gentleman with 1000 international victims, the man they call the Sheikh of Tweak. Shane Warne strode out for a close look at the pitch, then strode back to the Australian nets and turned his arm over. Not so much turned his arm over as put on a master class in leg-spin bowling. Warne spoke at length to Clarke and Darren Lehmann, he watched from close quarters as Xavier Doherty bowled to Shane Watson, speaking to the left-arm spinner after almost every delivery.

Self-doubts or not, Australia will be up for a fight on Thursday, in front of a predominantly pro-Indian crowd in what will be a new experience for it at home. The team has tried to reopen old wounds by pointing to its dominance of India in the summer gone by. It has promised aggression. It knows that in World Cups, it has the advantage over India – seven wins, three losses in ten matches. It hasn’t forgotten that four years ago, it was India who ended its reign, in the quarterfinal in Ahmedabad. It believes it will be poetic justice if it can dethrone India at the SCG, in its own backyard. Australia has the desire, India has the Cup. This could just be Eden Park revisited, a classic of undulating fortunes and unbridled drama.

Teams:India (likely): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma.

Australia (from): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, George Bailey

You can follow the build up to the game and the live scoring and match highlights for Australia v India here in the ICC Match Centre.