Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne:, external I can't begin to tell you what an advantage that is to Australia winning the toss on this dry, rock hard pitch at the SCG! Stat: If Australia's openers Warner/Finch make 50 or more the Aussies never lose over the last three years! Finch will make plenty today...

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Test Match Special

"A big toss to win. It's a very bare pitch, the same one which was used for the quarter-final here. Semi-finals can be a bit sparky, and we know these sides have a bit of history - they don't like each other very much."

Listen to TMS commentary via the audio icon.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

"India have the pitch they would have liked and the support they would have liked - the crowd should be 80% Indian - but they're going to have to do it the hard way because of the toss. I'd expect the Australians to get a big, big score. India will go full and straight with the new ball, and I'd expect Raina to bowl a few overs as the sixth bowler."

India have only one win in their last 13 ODIs against Australia. Not only that, Australia are unbeaten in their last eight ODIs at Sydney, with six wins and two no results.

And Australia have won seven of the 10 World Cup meetings between these teams.

However, nine of the last 12 completed ODIs at Sydney have been won by the team batting second.

Sportsgamer: Well, India lose the toss - they are going to have bowl like demons to keep this Aus team in reach.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Test Match Special

"Even though Australia are the most likely of the teams remaining to win the World Cup, playing India in Sydney is about the stiffest challenge they could have been given in the semi-finals.

"Indeed, because this match will be played on a pitch that should turn and grip, you feel that India will give Australia a tougher examination than New Zealand or South Africa would have done at this stage.

"Michael Clarke's men have to cope with the pressure of a home public that expects them to win this tournament. Yes, they will be buoyed by their good record against India, but MS Dhoni's side are used to playing in these high-stakes games."

Image source, Getty Images

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport in Sydney

"The SCG looks set to be blue, especially if the number of India shirts in the city centre is anything to go by. 'Aussies only buy their ticket a week before,' says TMS's Jim Maxwell. 'By then, they were all gone.'"

Australia all-rounder James Faulkner believes India will pose a tough test for the hosts tonight.

"They've spent a fair bit of time in the country, so they've adapted well to the conditions and it's no surprise they're up against us in the semi-final as they're a very strong team," Faulkner said.

"You're going to see two very good teams going up against each other. It should be a very good spectacle. There's going to be words said and it's going to be a really tough contest. Neither team will be backing down.

"The passion the Indian fans show toward their cricket team is sensational, so we're definitely expecting that."

Image source, Getty Images

So, contrasting views from the BBC TMS pundits. But what do you reckon? Who will come out on top tonight? Has the toss changed your view?

Let us know your views throughout tonight's match by weighing in on Twitter at #bbccricket, or by texting in on 81111.

Rahul Dravid
Ex-India captain on BBC Test Match Special

"The turning point for India was the game against South Africa. They were favourites coming in to the tournament so to beat them was big and once they had managed that you could sense the belief in the team. Parts of their game that were not going well suddenly started to come right at the right time.

"The semi-final is going to be a big game for India. Australia is the one team they have not done well against. If they have any scars from the last few months they will show in that game.

"India did well to get out of a difficult situation in the quarters against Bangladesh but it will not be so easy to do that against Australia. They will have to play a lot better."

Image source, AFP

Graeme Swann
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"India have to be the favourites. They are the form team of this World Cup and Australia have shown a few chinks of weakness.

"Against Pakistan they got roughed up by Wahab Riaz and I think they might get blown away here."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

As we've mentioned, these teams are have seen a lot of each other over the past few months, and relations haven't always been cordial.

After Virat Kohli said he had "no reason to respect" Mitchell Johnson after being called a "spoilt brat" during the Test series in December, things boiled over again in January's tri-series, when David Warner clashed with Rohit Sharma, with the fiery Australian opener calling on Rohit to "speak English".

So will Australia back down this time? Er, no. Captain Michael Clarke says there's no chance of a peace treaty. "There is going to be sledging, there is going to be banter," he said. "We'll do whatever we have to do to play our best cricket."

You have been warned.

Image source, Getty Images

It's worth underlining just how remarkable India's turnaround at this World Cup has been.

They didn't win a single match in the Test series and triangular ODI tournament that preceded this competition. They couldn't beat Australia in five matches across all formats, and heck, things got so bad, they even lost to England. Twice!

So expectations were not exactly sky-high going into the World Cup - but since that opening match against rivals Pakistan, India have been unstoppable. They have won seven straight matches, bowling the opposition out on every single occasion, taking their winning streak in World Cup matches to 11 after their success in the 2011 tournament.

Tonight the team that have stopped the rot face the team that started it for them. Can they keep the run going?

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport in Sydney

"This is something else, a cricketing carnival of a big-game atmosphere. The traffic around the SCG is bumper-to-bumper, so heavy that my taxi driver had to boot me out a few blocks away. One group of India fans hired a red tourist bus and were drumming away on the open-top deck on their way in."

Both sides are unchanged from their victories in the quarter-finals.

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Umpires are Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena and England's Richard Kettleborough, with South Africa's Marais Erasmus on TV replays.

Australia captain Michael Clarke: "The wickets looks great, runs on the board looks the best. The selectors believe this is the right XI for the conditions and if we play our best cricket, we'll have success."

India captain MS Dhoni: "I would have batted first. In a game like this, you have to bat well wherever you are in the order. Partnerships are more important than individual performance, that's been the key for us at this World Cup."

Australia have won the toss and Michael Clarke has chosen to bat first.

Welcome to our live coverage of the second Cricket World Cup semi-final, as Australia take on India. News from the toss coming up...

Image source, Getty Images

7-1. Remember that? You can hardly have forgotten. A perfectly good Brazil side torn to pieces, inexplicably transformed into an incoherent rabble in the World Cup semi-final. That's what the pressure of trying to reach a World Cup final on home soil does to a team.

That's the opportunity in front of the Australia cricket team tonight - a once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete for the game's biggest prize in their own back yard. Standing in their way are the defending champions India - an in-form side of grizzled veterans and explosive youngsters led by MS Dhoni.

Just like any other game, Michael Clarke will be telling his team in that dressing-room about now. And if it were any other game, you'd back Australia to beat India - after all, India couldn't buy a win on their recent tour Down Under.

But this is for a place in the World Cup final. In front of 48,000 people at the SCG. Let's face it, this is not just any other game.