"I hope Ravi doesn't get the better of me this time" - Ricky Ponting on his scoreline prediction for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has stuck to his prediction of the Baggy Greens pulling off a 3-1 win in the upcoming Test series against India. With Ravi Shastri earlier predicting it to be a 3-1 victory for either side, Ponting hopes he doesn't lose another prediction game to the former Indian player and coacj.
Australia have not won a Test series over India in their last four attempts. They last held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15. Team India have also won the last two away series over Australia, raising the stakes higher for them this time.
Speaking on an episode of the ICC Review, the Tasmanian recalled how his 2020-21 series prediction of Australia winning 2-1 backfired.
Ponting said:
"I think I might have said 2-1 at the start. And then Sunny looked at me and said, ‘It will be 2-1, but it will be 2-1 (in favour of) India.’ And I thought there was no way in the world that they could bounce back after losing the way they did in Adelaide. But they did. Sunny got the better of me there. So I hope Ravi doesn't get the better of me this time. So I'm going to stick with the 3-1 Australia."
Australia had won the first Test in Adelaide by eight wickets, but India fought back to level the series in Melbourne with the same margin. The tourists pulled off a gritty draw in Sydney and followed it up with a stunning victory in Brisbane.
"I just think there's potential for more disruption through their campaign" - Ricky Ponting on Team India
Ponting further revealed that India's campaign Down Under is likely to undergo further disruptions, especially with Rohit Sharma likely to return after the first Test. The 49-year-old reasoned in the same interview:
"India will be pretty certain of what team they're going to play (in Perth). They've known for a while that Rohit probably wasn't going to be here. They've probably known for a while that Bumrah was going to be captain. But I just think there's potential for more disruption through their campaign with Sharma coming back and whatever else."
"So I'll stick with it. (Marnus) Labuschagne and (Steve) Smith need to make runs for Australia. And their bowling attack obviously is as good as anyone's in the world. So I'll stick with my 3-1 Australia prediction," he added.
Jasprit Bumrah will captain Team India in the first Test.