The former captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, reckons that the return of the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, in the middle of the series, probably before the second day-nigh fixture at the Adelaide Oval, could be a disguise for the visiting side in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.
Rohit has taken a family leave from the series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth, as Jasprit Bumrah is ready to carry the responsibility of the team. Ricky Ponting has stood firm and crystal clear on his predicted margin of 3-1 in the BGT 2024-25.
“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 (3-1 prediction in favor of Australia).” The former Tasmania batter expressed in the recent ICC review.
In the last series of 2020/21, Steve Smith celebrated a century during the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), while Marnus Labuschagne followed it up with a century at his home ground, Gabba in Brisbane. Ponting claimed that both of them will be vital for the home side.
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“(Marnus) Labuschagne and (Steve) Smith need to make runs for Australia. And their bowling attack is as good as anyone’s in the world. So I’ll stick with my 3-1 Australia prediction.” Ricky Ponting pointed out in the ICC Review.
The veteran felt that despite Inia losing the three-match Test series at home against New Zealand by a 0-3 clean sweep margin, they will be well settled for the away series.
“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. So they’ve probably known what holes they’ve needed to fill. So they’ll be reasonably settled.” Ricky Ponting expressed in the review.
Ricky Ponting highlights the need for a strong mentality in BGT 2024-25
In the last two away series in 2018/19 and 2020/21, India won consecutively down under in the red-ball format. In the last trip, India lost the first game in Adelaide, where they were bundled out for 36 in the second innings, but made a cracking return with a 2-1 margin at the end.
Ponting recalled how the former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating in the game, predicted India coming back strongly in the series with a 2-1 margin.
“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 favor 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.” Ricky Ponting remarked.
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This time, the highest run-getter for the Aussies in the longest format has predicted a 3-1 winning margin for the home side. He, however, believed that the mental side of the game would be examined properly in this series.
“Preparation is always a hard one to get right. Because I’ve seen guys like Travis Head in the past where they’ve almost had no preparation at all, going into a game and then turn up and play one of the all-time great innings.” He noted.
“With this game, your skills don’t ever leave you. They don’t go too far away. But as long as you’re thinking clearly and thinking the right things, then you can make your body do pretty much whatever you want it to do.” Ricky Ponting concluded.
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