Basit Ali, former Pakistan captain, has slammed Ricky Ponting, the Australian legend for his prediction favoring Australia over India in the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar Test series down under.
India will play a five-Test series in Australia for the first time since the 1991-92 tour. The series will see the first Test start on Nov 22 in Perth. The second Test will be a day/night affair and will be played in Adelaide from December 6. The third Test will begin on December 14 and will be played in Brisbane.
The fourth Test will be the Boxing Day Test at MCG, starting from December 26 and the final Test will begin on January 3 in Sydney.
In the most recent edition of the ICC Review, Ponting projected that Australia would win this time against India, reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a margin of 3-1.
“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. 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 told ICC.
India has won the last two Test series in Australia and held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since they claimed a 4-1 series result on home soil in March 2017.
Australians have a habit of making such statements: Basit Ali on Ricky Ponting’s prediction for Australia v India Test series
Former Pakistani batsman Basit Ali recently responded to Ricky Ponting’s forecast for the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India and Australia.
Basit said that Australia might even sweep India if the Men in Blue didn’t have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“Ricky Ponting has said Australia will beat India 3-1. It is a big statement. The mind games have begun. The Indian players and coaches know these mind games very well. India have won the last two Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. There is not much difference between that time and this time, in my opinion.
I know Australians really well. They have a habit of making such statements. Australia can beat India 5-0 only if India are without Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Rohit, Virat, and Jaiswal,” Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel.
India have dominated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the recent past, winning the previous four editions.
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