Australia and India play down sledging concerns ahead of World Cup semi-final

Australia and India say their on-field rivalry will not cross cricket's boundaries during Thursday's World Cup semi-final.

The Sydney Cricket Ground hosts the first meeting between the sides since Test and one-day series either side of New Year which were littered with mid-pitch confrontations.

The most infamous saw David Warner fined in January for telling India's Rohit Sharma to "speak English", and the Aussie opener runs the risk of a ban if he steps out of line again.

That will not happen, according to his captain Michael Clarke, despite the huge reward on offer of a World Cup final against New Zealand.

"David will be fine," Clarke said on the eve of the semi-final. "He knows the rules, as we all do, and his rules are no different than the rest of ours. We'll do whatever we have to do to play our best cricket."

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Both teams acknowledge words will be exchanged out in the middle, but Clarke said: "It's not what you say, it's what you do. It's really important for us to focus on playing our best cricket."

Sharma, who comes into the game on the back of a quarter-final hundred against Bangladesh, agrees.

"It's part of the game," he said. "But as a team we have to stick to our game plan and try to execute what we've been doing.

"If there is a bit of banter going around, so be it. There will be times where you'll see a lot of bowlers and fielders getting right in their faces. Yeah, there will be times.

"I just hope it doesn't cross the line. We all know as professional cricketers there are boundaries which we don't need to cross. So, as long as it's inside those boundaries, we'll be fine."

Watch Australia v India live on Sky Sports' World Cup channel from 3am on Thursday.