Dubai (UAE), March 4: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has backed Team India as the “favourites” ahead of their semi-final clash against Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The match, scheduled for Tuesday at the Dubai International Stadium, marks the first encounter between the two teams in the ODI format since their dramatic 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 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 reached the semi-finals as the second-ranked team in Group B, finishing with four points, while India topped Group A by winning all their group-stage fixtures.
Ponting also suggested that India may use their previous loss to Australia in the 2023 World Cup Final as motivation. “Big games and big moments like that, you would hope that would be left behind in the dressing room. They’ve got a lot of experienced players in this Indian side, and a different coach as well, which might be something that means they haven’t focused on it,” he said.
He continued, “Do they use it as motivation? Do they talk about it a lot and try 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 get better every game.”
India secured their spot in the semi-final with a 44-run victory over New Zealand, with both teams already having qualified for the final four.