Cricket World Cup 2015 Semi-Finals: Key Players Ahead of Australia vs. India

Co-hosts Australia take on defending champions India in the second mouthwatering semi-final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Both teams have made the last four comfortably, with India beating Bangladesh by 109 runs and Australia triumphing by six wickets over Pakistan.

Unsurprisingly, as the pair have lost just one game between them at this year's tournament, the clash will feature some of the world's finest players, and pundit David Lloyd certainly believes the match to be an exciting prospect:

Here, we take a look at who will have the biggest impact when the two titans come head-to-head on Thursday.

Mitchell Starc

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been in incredible form at the World Cup so far.

His 18 wickets stood second only to New Zealand's Trent Boult ahead of the semi-finals, and his average of 9.77 is simply phenomenal. With an economy rate of 3.74 and a strike-rate of 15.6 (h/t Tariq Engineer of FirstPost.com), Starc can rightly be considered one of the best bowlers not only at the tournament but the world.

As noted by ESPN Cricinfo's Freddie Wilde, the 25-year-old is a crucial player for Australia:

Starc's importance lies in his ability to consistently bowl accurate yorkers at immense pace, often reaching 150 km/h.

The Kangaroos' fast bowling coach Craig McDermott recently praised Starc's key weapon. Speaking to Will Swanton of TheAustralian.com, he said:

"

He spends a lot of time on it. He bowls them at the start, he bowls them at the death, he bowls them in the middle. He can bowl it with a normal-shaped inswinging ball. And he can do it with his reverse around the wicket. The skill level is high but a lot of work goes into it. He practises it as well as anyone else.

It’s a weapon for him. Its a weapon for our team.

"

Here is what India's batsmen can look forward to on Thursday:

With Starc's impressive consistency of delivery and bombardment of pace, the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli will scarcely be able to relax at the crease, which could prove mentally and physically exhausting.

Ravichandran Ashwin

After taking 70 wickets out of a possible 70 at the World Cup, India's bowling has rightly received a lot of attention:

As the men in blue are usually considered spin specialists, their marked improvement in pace bowling has been at the focus of much attention. Mohammed Shami has taken 17 wickets, while Umesh Yadav has managed 14 and Mohit Sharma a very respectable 11.

ESPN Cricinfo's Freddie Wilde handily summed up the path India's bowling has taken:

However, it could be the nearly forgotten man, Ravichandran Ashwin, who makes the difference on Thursday.

The spin bowler's 12 wickets have almost slipped under the radar at the World Cup, but he is all set to play a crucial role in the semi-final.

According to Reuters (via The Guardian), Sydney Cricket Ground—the venue for Thursday's clash—traditionally favours spinners. Indeed, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy shared seven wickets in the quarter-final here between South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Former Australian pacer Stuart Clark believes this will be a key factor in the match.

According to Press Trust of India (via IBN Live), he said: "I think one place where India has advantage over Australia in this game is presence of Ravi Ashwin in their side. He is a world-class bowler and Australia, particularly don't have a world-class spinner."

And a world-class spinner Ashwin is. According to Reuters (via The Indian Express), Ashwin has exercised great control over his turn and stuck to an off-stump bowling line, but he has varied his flight and pace to deceive batsmen and force mistakes.

Should the pitch favour spinners, as expected, Ashwin can be the difference that swings it in the favour of the defending champions. Should the pitch be more suited to pace, India's recent development of their pace game will put them at no disadvantage.

It's going to be a close one, but India have just enough to squeeze a victory in Sydney.