Champions Trophy: Ricky Ponting Labels India As "Favorites" Ahead Of Semi-Final Clash Against Australia

March 4, 2025: Ahead of the much-anticipated semi-final clash between India and Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has declared that India will start as "favourites" for the encounter. The match, scheduled to take place at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, will be a repeat of the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup Final, where India and Australia last met in the ODI format.

In his conversation with Sanjana Ganesan for the latest edition of The ICC Review, Ponting highlighted India's dominant performance in the tournament so far. He 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.”

India has been in superb form, winning all of their group stage matches and topping Group A. Australia, on the other hand, qualified for the semi-finals after finishing second in Group B with four points.

Despite India's strong position, Ponting acknowledged the rivalry between the two nations and the significance of their previous meeting in the 2023 World Cup final. However, he believes India’s experienced players are unlikely to be affected by the past and may even use the previous loss as motivation. He added, "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."

Ponting also mentioned that if India focuses on their current form and continues to improve, they don’t need to dwell too much on the past. "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 enters the semi-final after securing a 44-run win against New Zealand in their last group match, ensuring their place in the final four. As the two teams prepare for the showdown in Dubai, all eyes will be on the thrilling battle between these cricketing powerhouses.