Australia's cricket great Ricky Ponting weighed in on one of cricket's fiercest rivalries and said he expects a tight tussle when India and Pakistan go head-on in their high-octane clash in Asia Cup on August 28.
The tournament, originally to be played in Sri Lanka, was moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is scheduled from August 27 with the final to be played on September 11.
Advantage Pakistan
While Pakistan hold an edge overall in head-to-head meetings, it's a different story at the Asia Cup with India currently clinging to a slender 7-5 advantage (one no result) from 13 matches.
And the World Cup-winning captain felt India have the depth to prevail.
“I'll stick with India to win that clash against Pakistan," Ponting told ICC website.
"That's taking nothing away from Pakistan because they are an incredible cricket nation that continue to present out-and-out superstar players."
India and Pakistan haven’t played each other at Test level since they fought out a high-scoring draw in Bengaluru in 2007, with Sourav Ganguly’s 239 making headlines.
Top rivalry
There is still an outside chance the two nations could meet again in the final of the ICC World Test Championship next year and Ponting would love to see the rivalry grow even further with the addition of more red-ball cricket.
“When I think about rivalries, Australia and England and Ashes cricket is the pinnacle I’ve always thought of for our Test match game,” Ponting noted.
“I'm sure India and Pakistanis will say the same about that and the actual rivalry would be the pinnacle of Test match cricket for those two countries as well.”
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