World Cup 2015: Fans and pitch make it a 'home encounter' for the men in blue

SYDNEY: The cafe inside the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) premises serves very good breakfast, Aussie and continental. But a meal was probably farthest from the mind of Michael Clarke when he arrived here on Wednesday morning ahead of practice. He had a special guest,who had reserved a table, waiting inside.
READ ALSO: SCG awaits gladiatorial contest between India and Australia
Shane Warne was sitting there, finishing a sandwich, when Clarke walked in.They shook hands, exchanged the slightest of pleasantries and got talking. The conversation appeared quite animated, Clarke talking and Warne listening. None of the guests inside the café went close.
Full Coverage: ICC World Cup 2015
An hour later, Warne was at the nearby nets. The Indian team had wrapped up its training session and left. The legendary Aussie, dressed in casuals, began rolling his arm over. The session with the former leggie went on for close to an hour. And then he left.
READ ALSO: Bullish Rohit Sharma ready to take on Australia
Inside the SCG, meanwhile, the pitch that had a slight tinge of green the other day was being shaved – bald. Andy Atkinson, the ICC arbitrator for pitch and grounds, watched this work intently. The sun took over after a day of heavy downpour in Sydney, improving the chances of the 22-yard strip warming up for the slower bowlers. The build-up to what is being marketed as the most important match of the 2015 World Cup had started turning a circle.
In front of a 47,000-capacity crowd, known for its boisterous character and undulated passion, two of the world’s best teams – India and Australia – will clash on Thursday for a spot in the final.
The joke going around SCG revolved around Warne, the man who’d offered South Africa some help on the eve of their World T20 semifinal against India in Dhaka last year, and the team lost. There is absolutely no doubt that the hosts, who dominated India the entire summer here, are under pressure.

At a time when high-scoring matches have been the trend in limited overs cricket, you don’t need rocket science to understand why the pitches have been monitored so closely. If most other pitches in this tournament were slow, the SCG is showing signs of turning out into one of the slowest on Thursday.

Warne tried giving Aussies a feel of what they could expect, not much turn but accuracy which was visible in Imran Tahir’s spell here against Sri Lanka last week. The Indians left the venue after practice in a happy mood,Rohit Sharma – the Man-of-the-Match in the quarterfinal win over Bangladesh – talking about how his teammates are confident ahead of the next big game. The Aussies, meanwhile, were the ones seeking help.
Aaron Finch went back to consult Andrew McDonald, his coach for close to a decade. Clarke backed opener and motormouth David Warner – who faces suspension in the final should Australia qualify – to behave. Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell stayed busy with Warne. And the Aussie skipper, after being asked for the umpteenth time about India expecting more support from the fans than Australia, replied: “It’s a nobrainer, we know they will.”

The field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Richard Kettleborough, along with match-referee Ranjan Madugalle, can expect a very busy Thursday. Rohit didn’t wait a second in admitting that India would not back off an inch if the Aussies decided to get verbal. Swagger comes naturally to these young Indian men who’ve given back worse than what they’ve taken in recent years.

The toss will matter – because batting under the sun will be an advantage – but not as much as the start that both teams will look for, regardless of batting or fielding first. Rohit says India’s bowling, especially in the shorter format, may not be the same as Australia’s but they possess a set of skills different from most of the oppositions to enjoy the conditions here in Australia. With 70 wickets in seven matches,who could argue with that assessment?
Follow TOI Sports on Twitter >>> @TOISportsNews