The India-Australia rivalry has officially reached new heights, with a record 837,879 spectators attending the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The five-match Test series between cricket's giants broke previous attendance records.
The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) alone hosted 373,691 fans over five days, surpassing the previous record of 350,534 set in 1937. This increase in crowd numbers speaks volumes about the growing intensity of the India-Australia rivalry and how it has transcended the India-Australia rivalry. The traditional rivalry between England and Australia is burning ashes in the hearts of cricket fans.
India-Australia rivalry reaches new heights as record-breaking 8,37,879 spectators attend Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Reacting to the numbers, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting boldly claimed that it is difficult to argue that the India-Australia rivalry is not now the biggest in world cricket, including the traditional Ashes rivalry. The legendary Australian batsman expressed his astonishment at the sheer size of the turnout during BGT 2024-25.
Now, Ricky Ponting is keen to see how well the attendance for the upcoming Ashes 2025 is when England visit Australia for the five-match Test series, as if crowd numbers aren't high, it will be clear that the India-Australia rivalry has moved beyond the Ashes, at least from a fans' point of view. .
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Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying by The ICC Review: “I looked at the numbers yesterday; Nearly 837,000 people turned out to watch the Test matches, which is unheard of here in Australia. Now that this series has happened, Australia will take on England next summer, so we'll get a better idea then. If the numbers were not the same, there would be no doubt that the (Border-Gavaskar) rivalry is (bigger), certainly from the fans' point of view.
Australian legend Ricky Ponting also highlighted that the rivalries in cricket are two-fold – there is what the fans want to see and the fierce competition between the teams. He stressed that it is not just about fan numbers, but also about how players view the rivalry between the big three cricketing nations.
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If BGT Tests had lasted five days, these numbers would have been astronomical: Ricky Ponting
Ponting signed off by saying: “There are two separate parts to this: there's what the fans want to see and the rivalry they want to do, but that's also how the players look at the rivalry between the three teams now. Perth have only been four days, Adelaide has only been three days, and Sydney has gone only four days.” Just three days. These numbers would have been astronomical if all Test matches lasted five days so, by this time next year, we will have a great idea of what the biggest rivalry in world cricket is.
Even former India coach Ravi Shastri praised the growing interest in Test cricket, especially after the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He highlighted the record attendance at the Melbourne Test, with 375,000 spectators surpassing the 90-year-old record from 1936/37.
Shastri pointed out that this increase in attendance shows how much interest in modern Test cricket has grown. He stressed that the brilliant episodes in Test cricket have kept fans away from TVs and OTT platforms, with many even traveling from abroad to watch the events live.