Match Facts, Head to Head Records between India and Australia
If we consider the statistics, it certainly looks favourable towards Australia. However, like the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said "Stats don't matter as long as we keep winning…” If we are going to look into stats, it is important to observe the recent form between the two teams. The Indians surely look positive for maintaining their unbeaten world cup record since the beginning of the tournament.
Matches Won Highest Score Lowest Score Highest Chase Lowest Chase
| Matches | Won | Highest Score | Lowest Score | Highest Chase | Lowest Chase | |
| India | 117 | 40 | 383 | 63 | 359 | 193 |
| Australia | 117 | 67 | 359 | 101 | 303 | 170 |
Further to the above stats, India and Australia have faced each other 10 times in the world Cup, where Australia has won 7 and India won 3.
Keeping the stats aside, here are 5 positive things that India can look up to:
THE UNBEATEN RUN: After beating Bangladesh in the quarterfinals, India has an unbelievable record of winning 7 consecutive matches in 2015 world cup and 11 consecutive matches in all world cups. This can give them enough confidence to make the difference when facing the Kangaroos.
MS DHONI’S CAPTAINCY: Arguably the best ODI captain at present, Dhoni’s fielding and bowling choices have been precise in this world cup. Case in point, he made Suresh Raina bowl 10 overs in the quarterfinal match against Bangladesh which eventually paid off. He can certainly remind the Aussies with his illustrious achievements of trophies and never losing a semi-final with India.
BOWLING: Prior to the world cup, there was a lot of criticism on the bowling unit. After 70 Wickets in 7 matches, Indian bowlers have been the best and have proved a point amidst the critiques. Mohammed Shami has been the star bowler for Indians, which can test Australia’s batting line-up. Without the bowlers like Ashwin, Jadeja, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and even Raina’s collective effort, India wouldn’t have made it so far.
BATTING: Last couple of years, India has always been the most formidable batting side in the ODIs. The team will certainly look up to Virat Kohli, who has a good form against the Australians who scored four centuries in the test series, notably the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) performance. It’s crucial not to forget about Shikhar Dhawan who had a wonderful tournament with 367 runs in 7 innings. Even if everything fails, the fans can look out for Dhoni, the saviour.
MAJORITY OF INDIAN FANS: The Aussies will find more pressure, considering the fact that the ground is expected to be filled with more Indian supporters than their own. The organizers believe that 70 percent tickets of the 42,000-capacity SCG have been sold out to the Indian fans. The atmosphere of SCG will certainly be in India’s favour if those fans do turn up.
5 Positive things that Australia can look up to:
REMINISCING TRI-SERIES VICTORY: Glen Maxwell is factually right about the tri-series loss of India against Australia. The Australians did manage to break the same squad they are about to face in the Semi-final. They certainly do have the upper hand in terms of their recent run against the Indians.
HOME SUPPORT: Despite the organizers claiming more Indian fans to be present in the SCG, the Aussies sure know everything about their home pitch and do posses an excellent winning record in the ground. India has won only 4 out of 17 matches in the SCG.
MICHAEL CLARKE’S CAPTAINCY: Clarke had a fantastic season, despite a career threatening back injury during the test series against India. He can certainly orchestrate a win against the men in blue. As a batmen, he’s more experienced facing the Indian team, where he did manage to score a century with the injury in the test series. And as of now, he is certainly looking to win it not only for his country but also for the late Phil Hughes.
BATTING: One cannot undermine the Aussies as they always had the most balanced batting line-up that made them the most successful world cup team. The likes of Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and David Warner are more than capable of posing a formidable partnership and also down the line, players like Clarke, Watson and Maxwell, can finish of in style just like Dhoni would.
CONSISTENCY IN WORLD CUPS: Last but not the least, four world cup victories. Three of them came in the last four attempts; the stats are surely in favour of the Aussies.
Interesting match facts:
This is the first semi-final between India and Australia
Maxwell and Ashwin’s Rivalry: Amidst their IPL rivalry, Maxwell has scored 77 runs out of 54 balls bowled by Ashwin in ODIs.
Australia has won their last 12 ODIs in their home soil.
Australia never lost a world cup semi-final, except the tie against South Africa in 1999.
India’s Ajay Jadeja is the only person to score a century against Australia in world cups. (*scored 100 of 138 balls in 1999 world cup at the Oval)
If the semi-final is abandoned between the two, then India will progress to the final since they topped the Pool B table, whereas Australia is only 2nd.