Rodney Hogg: India to put Australia in a spin

It may seem like lunacy, given the rap I gave Australiaâs one-day team last week, but Iâm tipping India to beat us in the World Cup semi-final on Thursday at the SCG.
I think the Indian spinners will give Australia some major problems in this semi-final.
Theyâre playing on the same pitch that South Africa beat Sri Lanka on, and leg-spinner Imran Tahir had a day out on it last time.
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Itâs a re-prepared wicket â the Aussies wanted a green-top.
An old pitch totally suits India, and thatâs why I think theyâll win.
Australia arenât cherry ripe at the moment.
Weâve been good, but we havenât dominated.
You wouldnât say Michael Clarkeâs in form, you wouldnât say the two openers are in form.
You wouldnât say Shane Watsonâs totally in form, although I like where he is now â he gives the middle order stability.
As much as I like the look of this Australian line-up on paper, they just havenât put it all together just yet.
James Faulkner is coming back from injury, heâs lacking game time. Clarkeâs coming back from injury, he hasnât got a lot of runs. Youâve got Watson being restructured back into the batting line-up and youâve got Aaron Finch and Dave Warner not really firing at the minute.
Only Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell are in peak form.
Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson are the only Australian bowlers with more than six wickets.
Meanwhile, India have turned things around.
Theyâve won seven on the trot, and if you said to India where would you want to play Australia, theyâd say in Sydney on a re-prepared wicket.
The Indian bowlers were very inconsistent in the Tests this summer. They showed glimpses but couldnât do it for long enough.
In this tournament, theyâve found that consistency.
Paceman Mohammed Shami (17 wickets) has been the standout â heâs performed above expectation.
Umesh Yadav (14 wickets) has found a bit of consistency.
Spin-wise theyâve got Ravindra Jadeja (nine wickets) who has come into the side and performed well and Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 12 wickets.
Ashwin and Jadeja versus part-timer Maxwell â thatâs the storyline of this game.
And we saw Tahir, with modest spin, take 4-26 for South Africa on this track thatâs now been prepared again.
Thatâs why I think Australia are up against it in this game.
The toss is crucial. I think if Australia bat first they might be able to get a hold of the spinners, but if you bat second, the later the game goes sometimes you just canât belt spinners on a wicket thatâs suiting them.
And if Australia has an Achilles heel itâs that we donât spin particularly well, and we lack a genuine spinner.
The fact this is a re-prepared Sydney wicket really throws this Indiaâs way.
I thought that was a weakness when we came into the tournament, that we didnât come in with Fawad Ahmed.
When the batsmen are really going you need to break the game up. With our attack weâre not able to do that.
Thatâs why I think India will be playing New Zealand on Sunday at the MCG.
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