Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting opened up on the popularity of the two highly-followed series, i.e. the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) and Ashes. The just-concluded India-Australia series saw record attendance for all five Tests. The numbers were so good that it shattered records to become the most attended non-Ashes series in the history of Australian cricket. As many as 8,37,879 people attended the 2024-25 BGT edition, which saw Pat Cummins-led Aussies beat India 3-1 and regain the trophy for the first time since the win in the 2014-15 edition. Punter opined on the popularity of BGT and compared it with Ashes.

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'If the Ashes numbers aren't the same, then there'll be no doubt that.....'

Ponting told the ICC Review, "I had a look at the numbers yesterday, it was something like 837,000 people came to watch the Test matches, which is unheard of here in Australia. So now that this series has happened, Australia have England coming out next summer so we'll get a better idea then. If the numbers aren't the same, then there'll be no doubt that the (Border-Gavaskar) rivalry (is bigger), certainly from the fans’ point of view."

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Punter further opined, "There's two separate parts to this: There's what the fans want to see and the rivalry that they want to make of it, but it's also how the players view the rivalry between the three teams now."

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Highlighting that most of the games in the India-Australia series didn't even last all five days, Ponting added, "Perth only went four days, Adelaide only went three days, Sydney only went three days. Those numbers would have been astronomical if those Test matches all went five days. So exactly this time next year, we'll have a great idea of the biggest rivalry in world cricket."

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England are scheduled to tour Australia during the Australian summer, later this year, for Ashes 2025. The five-match series will surely give a clear picture of whether the BGT has surpassed the popularity of the Ashes.