Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has revealed his predictions for the India-Australia five-match Test series, starting November 22 in Perth. The blockbuster Border-Gavaskar Trophy will then move to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
As India embarks on its tour of Australia, Ponting, the country’s leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, predicts a series win by 3-1 for the hosts. The former skipper concedes that India might win one game in the series but is confident that Australia will retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after India’s dominance for a decade.
“I feel India will win one Test match in the series,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review. “But Australia seems a bit more rounded and settled with their overall squad, so I will go with a 3-1 mark.
Ponting had forecast the same result as August, sounding confident about Australia’s chances. These two teams last met in Australia in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia won 2-0. However, in the past two series between the two sides in Australia, the Aussies lost 1-2.
Australia is currently the No. 1 team in the ICC Test rankings and also leads the WTC 2023-25 points table. They have won four home red-ball matches in the ongoing WTC cycle.
On the other hand, India began this series after a dismal outing against New Zealand, where they were amazingly whitewashed in the last three Tests. For the first time, India has been whitewashed at home in a series containing three or more Tests, which creates serious question marks about their chances of qualifying for the WTC 2025 final.
India needs a clean sweep against Australia – either 4-0 or 5-0 – to climb into the top two and confirm a place in the WTC final at Lord’s next year.
