Ricky Ponting picks India as “favourites” in Champions Trophy semi-final clash against Australia

Dubai [UAE], March 4 (ANI): Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting believed that Team India would start as “favourites” in the upcoming semi-final clash of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played at the Dubai International Sadium on Tuesday.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 enters its final week, India and Australia are set to lock horns in the first semi-final in Dubai.

The two powerhouses will meet for the first time in the ODI format since their epic meeting in the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Final.

Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan in the latest edition of The ICC Review, Ponting said, “I think India are going to start favourites in this game. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that with what they’ve done in the tournament so far. The fact that they’re playing in the venue that they’ve played their games in. They haven’t had to move and travel. They’ve been training on those wickets all the time. Australia have rushed in to Dubai to get ready for the game.”

Australia qualified for the final four as the second-ranked team in Group B, finishing with four points. India, on the other hand, won all of their group stage fixtures to top Group A.

The ICC Hall of Famer added that while India is unlikely to be fazed by their previous meeting against Australia, the Rohit Sharma-led side might even take inspiration from the defeat to shine on the big stage.

“Big games and big moments like that, you would hope that would be left behind in the dressing room there and that night, and you got to move on pretty quickly. They’ve got a lot of experienced players in this Indian side, a different coach as well, which might be something that means they haven’t talked about it or haven’t focused on it,” the former World Cup winner said.

“Do they use it as motivation? Do they talk about it a lot and try to motivate themselves and get up to redeem themselves from that World Cup final? So there’s two ways to look at it but if they’re playing well, I don’t think they need to be focused on anything other than just making sure they find a way to get better every game.”

India reached the semi-final on the back of their 44-run win against New Zealand in a match where both teams had already secured final-four qualifications.