Australia’s legendary captain Ricky Ponting talked about the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series between Australia and India and said that the rivalry between the two teams is inching closer to matching the intensity and quality of Ashes.

The Ashes remain Test cricket's most intense rivalry, with a rich history, some bad blood, dramatic fights, remarkable individual performances, and innumerable memories. For both Australian and English players, winning an Ashes series represents the pinnacle of red-ball cricket.

Ricky Ponting has claimed that the India v Australia rivalry has dethroned South Africa as Australia’s second-fiercest competitor in the Test arena.

The Indian cricket team has been dominating Australia at home for some time now, but in recent years, they have also demonstrated that they are equally good when playing on their opponent's land. The Indian team has won their last two Tests in Australia and will return later this year for a five-match series.

Ponting believes India has presented a stiff test to Australia, and he believes the current squad shares his sentiments.

“I think I was a part of it when that (IND-AUS rivalry) started to grow when the rivalry really started to grow as it’s right at the back end of my career. And that’s when I think India seemingly really started to stand up to the fight and say, ‘OK you’re playing against India now, this is a different Indian team, we’ve got different leaders and different players and we’re going to do it whatever we can to beat you guys – whether it’s in India or Australia’,” Ponting told ICC.

Ponting, one of the greatest batters to have played the game, is excited about the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.

“I’ve said for the last couple of years now, Australia has always had a fierce rivalry with England, obviously, and a very strong rivalry with South Africa. But I think India is now sitting right on the back of what an Ashes clash is like and probably overtaken the rivalry with South Africa. So I mean, that’s probably enough said. The fact that someone like me is looking at it in that way. I’m sure the players look at it in the same way as well and I’m really excited for the summer,” Ponting said.

“There’ll be a lot of Indian broadcasters out there. There’ll be a lot of Indian fans out here. India will bring a really strong team here. And we know Australia are World Test Champions at the moment so it should be a mouth-watering summer again,” he added.

India is set to play 5 Tests in Australia this series, for the first time since 1992.