SYDNEY: Acrimony is omnipresent now whenever Australia and India clash in cricket. With a spot in the World Cup final against New Zealand on the line, expect the intensity to peak.

India batsman Rohit Sharma said his squad was prepared to fight fire with fire in Thursday`s semi-finalagainst four-time champion Australia, which has forged its reputation on an aggressive, uncompromising brand of the game. India has been in Australia since November but didn`t win a match until the World Cup kicked off.

Since then, Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s squad has won seven consecutive games.-APSee also Sport Pages