"It's A Fantastic Initiative And The Players Will Enjoy As Well" - Ricky Ponting On Border-Gavaskar Trophy Extended To 5 Matches

Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting said that the ICC made the right call in extending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to five matches from four, which will delight the players and the fans.

In the latest FTP cycle released by the ICC for the 2023-27 cycle, Australia will play 21 Tests while India will play 20. The two teams will meet each other in a 5-match series as well for the first time in over 30 years.

“I think spectators from Australia and India and probably anyone that loved the game around the world would have liked to have seen more Test matches between Australia and India, so absolutely I think it’s a fantastic initiative and more importantly, I think all the players will really enjoy that as well,” Ponting told Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.

“The conditions they play in are contrasting” – Ricky Ponting

Ponting said that the series is exciting as the two nations offer different conditions and challenges. While the Aussie pitches offer more to the seamers, the subcontinent tracks are favoured towards the tweakers.

“The thing about Australia-India series is that the conditions we play into so are so different and so contrasting. When India come to Australia they get the fast, bouncy wickets that offer something for the seamers.”

“And then when Australia go to India it’s pretty much the other way round with a lot of spin and a lot of reverse swing bowling. So that contrast in itself I think is what players really like and what the fans would love to watch,” Ponting added.

Australia will host India in the 2023-25 WTC cycle before travelling to India for the 2025-27 WTC cycle.

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