Ponting banks on history to predict winner of third Australia-India Test
Australia great Ricky Ponting is tipping his former side to continue their favourable record at the Gabba when they face India in the all-important third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The two rivals have split the opening ICC World Test Championship contests in Perth and Adelaide so far, with India coming out on top with a comfortable 295-run victory in the series-opener before Australia hit back in the pink-ball Test with a 10-wicket win.
Ponting believes the teams will be more evenly matched in the third Test in Brisbane, but tipped the home side to come out on top when speaking with host Sanjana Ganesan on the most recent episode of The ICC Review.
“It's really hard to say what to expect after the way the first two games have gone,” he said.
“I mean, they've just been complete blowouts either way. So you don't really know what to expect.
“I've got a feeling it'll be a bit more even contest than the first couple of games. I still think Australia will win.”
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Ricky Ponting sticks to his Border-Gavaskar Trophy prediction and previews the series
Ponting pointed to Australia's dominant home record over the years at the Gabba to support his call. Between 1989 and 2020, the hosts were unbeaten in Brisbane over the course of 31 Test matches.
They have lost twice at the venue over the past four years – to India and West Indies – but Ponting still backed his former side.
“Generally the team that wins the toss in Brisbane will bat first and try and bat well in the first couple of days and then wait for the wicket to start offering a bit more to the bowlers later in the game,” Ponting said. “That's generally the way that teams play there.
“Australia, if (Josh) Hazlewood is not fit, will be unchanged. India have got a little bit to think about. Who do I think will dominate up there? Look, it'll probably be a bowler-friendly pitch again for the first couple of days of the game.
“There's normally eight or 10mm of grass on that wicket at the Gabba. If it's cloudy and overcast, then the bowlers are going to be licking their lips early in the game and the batsmen are going to have to work really hard for their runs.
“I'll back recent form up there. India have got a good record. Going through history, I think Australia only lost twice there in about 40 years. So, I'll back Australia to win at the Gabba.”
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In an earlier edition of The ICC Review, Ponting had predicted Australia to win the series 3-1. He doubled down on that once again, but admitted he hadn’t expected the Perth result to go the way it did.
“Yeah, I'll hang on to it, but I wasn't expecting India to have a one next to the name now, because I thought Australia would win Perth and I thought they'd win Adelaide,” Ponting said.
“And where we go from here … Brisbane, obviously India played beautifully in Brisbane last time they were here. I still think they'll find it hard to win there again, especially having to find a way to come back from what happened in Adelaide.”
Although he pointed out the Indian team’s ability to bounce back from losses, Ponting stressed that Australia still had an edge over the visitors.
“This Indian team in the past, and I'm on record saying it, a lot of the time when they've got their backs to the wall and people are doubting them is when they come out and play their best cricket,” he said.
“I still think Australia are a slightly better, well, more rounded team. And if they can just maintain the way that they played in Adelaide last week, then they'll be hard to beat in Brisbane.
“I’ll stick with the 3-1.”