World Cup 2015: It's going to be cut-throat, says Faulkner

SYDNEY: The whiff of the flowing lager emanating from the Victor Trumper Stand ­ known more popularly as Bay 17 ­ will, among other things, set the tone for the second semifinal here at the SCG when fans from all over Australia and the rest of the world take their seats here on Thursday afternoon. Mitchell Starc with the new ball, followed by Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, James Faulkner and Shane Watson depending on the eleven Australia settle forwill run in hard. Not quite MCG's Bay 13 but Sydney, which for the Aussies is one of their best slices of cricketing history, will be equally fierce. Foul-mouths and slang-leaders will be expected to have a field day, and India's young men will have a lot to listen to once the action begins. "I think it is always there in the game (sledging). It is the nature of the game, it is the semifinal," Faulkner said when asked if chatter will be a part of the big-ticket match. "It is going to be cut throat, there are going to be words said. It is going to be a really tough contest."Faulkner was as candid as a cricketer can get. There's no doubt that a lot of chatter will take place in the match but it won't just be the Australian team doing the honours. "Both teams I suppose won't be backing down," says the Aussie.Australia and Pakistan were at it in Adelaide the other day, with Shane Watson and Wahab Riaz earning a tete-atete with match-referee Ranjan Madugalle. The ICC officials for Thursday's encounter can be expected to have a tougher day at work.Faulkner says the verbal exchanges between Australia and Pakistan were all in good spirit and a great spectacle. That's precisely how the Aussies see it, all in good spirit as long as bullying remains the order of the day. However, unlike the Pakistanis, they'll have in India a bunch of equally young and proud men who won't mind giving it back to the hosts.BLAST FROM THE PASTWARNER VS ROHIT | (JAN '15)During the Sydney ODI, David Warner made headlines for getting mired in a brawl with Rohit Sharma. He apparently was busy sledging the Indian player when the latter said something in Hindi, following which the Aussie mouthed the words 'speak English'.DHAWAN VS WATSON: (NOV '13)Shikhar Dhawan mocked an injured Shane Watson during the Bangalore ODI by imitating his limp. The Aussie was struggling to complete a run when Dhawan fielded it and poked mullock at him.