"3-1 to Australia" - Ricky Ponting tips Australia to win the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy

The end of this year is set to present a thrilling cricket spectacle for fans, with Team India scheduled to tour Australia. The arch-rivals will compete for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, starting on 22 November 2024. The five-match series will be played across Australia, with Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide selected as the venues. India will travel to Australia aiming to build on their previous performances, having beaten the hosts in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Meanwhile, former Australian legend Ricky Ponting has predicted that Australia will win the series 3-1 as they prepare to host India later this year.

Australia Has A Lot To Prove In The Upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy, Says Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting noted that Australia has a lot to prove in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy, given India’s victories in the last two home seasons in Australia. Team India won two consecutive away series against the Kangaroos in 2018/19 and 2020/21, with the most cherished Indian Test win, the breach of the Gabba fortress, coming in 2021. Moreover, Team India retained the trophy in the 2022/23 season with a 2-1 lead against the touring Australia.

"It's going to be a competitive series and, as I said, I think Australia's got a bit of a point to prove against India in Australia on the back of what's happened the last two series here," Ponting said on the ICC Review.

Furthermore, the former Australian skipper highlighted that the upcoming series having five matches brings a thrilling prospect to the contest. India and Australia followed a four-match series format in the last few editions of the BGT. Ponting also noted that the chances of drawn matches will decrease considerably.

"We are back to five Tests as well, which is the other really important thing about this series. It's only been four Tests the last couple of times. Five Tests, I think everyone's really excited by that, and I don't know if there'd be too many drawn games," Ponting said.

Backing his loyalty to the Kangaroos, Ricky Ponting tipped Australia to win the series 3-1 against India. Though the former skipper predicted low chances of a draw, he didn’t rule out the possibility entirely. Additionally, Ponting cited bad weather conditions as a potential hurdle in the proceedings, thus keeping his prediction at 3-1 for the five-match series.

"I'm obviously going to tip Australia to win, and I'm never going to tip against Australia. There will be a draw somewhere, and there will be some bad weather somewhere, so I'm going to say 3-1 to Australia," Ponting predicted.

Ricky Ponting predicts 3-1 series victory for Australia against India in Border Gavaskar Trophy. [ICC] pic.twitter.com/Jw5fYN03Rp

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