India, Australia and their historic on-field rivalry

On Thursday, things will start heating up Down Under as defending champions India take on Australia, the most successful team in the cricket World Cup history.
It will be India's sixth appearance in a WC semifinal and Australia's seventh and despite Australia having a better track record in the tournament, this is by all means a clash of the Titans.
Moreover, India has never faced Australia in a WC semifinal before, which makes the match way more interesting.Before the tournament, the Indian team was criticised and frankly, no one expected them to come this far. Australia on the other hand was a team to look out for.
Though they have battled past barriers, it has been done unlike other times when winning a match would be just another day's work for the Aussies. So yes, the match will be a very interesting one to watch. On a different note, there is one more thing, apart from grit and an appetite to win, common to both the teams - controversies.
Turn the pages of cricket history books and you will find that an Ind vs Aus game is one that is sure to have some heated arguments and sledging. So without getting into the 'who started it' let's focus on what has happened as both teams get ready to lock horns for a place in the finals.
MELBOURNE 1981
It was a remarkable victory for an Indian team playing with two injured players. But what is more remembered is the incident when Sunil Gavaskar lost his cool after being given out. Gavaskar insisted that he had hit the ball but after being given lbw on a Dennis Lillee delivery, he chose to storm off the field taking his batting partner Chetan Chauhan along. Chauhan was sent back to play immediately by manager Shahid Durrani.
SHARJAH 1998
Whenever Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting play in an India-Australia match, their famous rivalry surfaces. It was during the Sharjah match that it all started. After being stumped out, Ponting was shown the way to the pavilion by Bhajji who also spat some gaalis at the Australian team. Not one to take it lying down, Ponting replied with some choicest gaalis of his own. Both were fined for the incident. This was the foundation of the rivalry that followed.
ADELAIDE 1999-2000
Sachin Tendulkar is the last man, well actually the second-last, to be associated with a controversy in cricket. But then the Aussies have a penchant for going after everyone in their opponent team. When a Glenn McGrath ball hit Tendulkar (who had ducked low) on the shoulder, umpire Daryl Harper ruled him out lbw. The decision created a lot of controversy during the series and Harper came under fire from fans and media.
MUMBAI 2001
India took a beating from Australia in this series but it was the SlaterDravid-Venkatraghavan incident that created a stir. Now, Dravid is really the last person to be associated with a controversy. When Aussie Michael Slater took a diving catch off a Dravid hit, Dravid had his doubts about the dismissal and stood his ground. S Venkatraghavan, the umpire, ruled him not out, a decision that made Slater lose his cool and abuse both the umpire and Dravid.
AUSTRALIA 2008
This was a series liberally laced with controversies including the Bodyline-like bowling by Australians, Gambhir elbowing Watson and the most famous Monkeygate scandal. While the Bodyline bit urged captain Anil Kumble to say, "Only one team played in the spirit of the game", Harbhajan's spat with Andrew Symonds got more attention, including some from a court in Sydney. Whether Harbhajan called Symonds a monkey or not, this series remains one of the most controversial ones.
These are not the only times that an India vs Australia match attracted bad publicity. During the 2001 series, Steve Waugh got into a spat with Sourav Ganguly who was allegedly late for the toss, seven times! In 2010, Zaheer took a few jibes at Ponting after getting him out and Ponting returned the 'favour' by exchanging some 'pleasantries' with the bowler. Not so long ago, during the 0-4 washout of India at the hands of Australia in 2011-12, Virat Kohli was fined 50 percent of his match fee for showing the middle finger to spectators.