Ravi Shastri reckons that despite its 143-year history, the Ashes is no longer Australia’s biggest cricket rivalry.
England v Australia stretches back to 1882-83, but world cricket’s oldest series has now been surpassed by India v Australia, Shastri told The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show, citing the record attendance of 373,691 at last winter’s Boxing Day Test in Melbourne as evidence.
‘I would say, in the years I played, the biggest rivalry is India v Pakistan. The interest it generates from the outside is massive,’ said the former India head coach.
‘Having said that, in the last 10 years, India v Australia has taken off. In cricketing terms, India v Australia has produced some series.
‘This year, you’ve got record crowds into the MCG for Boxing Day. The largest number of people that came in since Don Bradman’s team in 1936.
‘Now, I think that The Ashes will get a lot of people, but to upstage that you have to have a great series and probably the best crowd ever.’
Ravi Shastri has claimed that the Ashes is no longer Australia’s biggest cricketing rivalry
The Ashes is world cricket’s oldest series at 143 years and it is always an intense battle
Shastri insisted the Border-Gavaskar series against India is now the biggest for Australia
That could be possible, with Cricket Australia reporting 50,000 ticket sales to English fans alone within the first 24 hours of general purchase last month.
It coincides with a feeling that this England side under Ben Stokes is the best equipped to win down under since the 3-1 victory in 2010-11.
Fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood should be fit, improving England’s firepower, and Shastri reckons they could also benefit from including Liam Dawson ahead of Shoaib Bashir.
A fractured finger for Somerset off-spinner Bashir, 21, has led to the recall of veteran Dawson this week, following an eight-year absence at Test level.
But Shastri, a former spinner himself, said: ‘You will need a spinner to do a controlling job, more than anything else. Someone who can keep it tight on a hot day, and hopefully give you some runs as well.
‘Australia will be hard (for Bashir). You might need a spinner to give you more with the bat. Dawson’s a good choice there.’
As for the here and now, Shastri has praised Ben Stokes’ influence in England opening up a 2-1 lead when, on the balance of play, the scoreline could be drastically different.
Shastri was also full of praise for Ben Stokes’ efforts in England’s victory against India at Lord’s
The Indian legend felt the series is ‘set up beautifully’ heading into tomorrow’s fourth Test
Shastri also highlighted the importance of Liam Dawson’s recall with Shoaib Bashir out injured
‘If India had seized their moments it could have been 3-0 but England have shown a lot of character, first at Leeds, then again on the final day at Lord’s, where the captain put his hands up, bowled those long spells, put his neck on the line and pulled it off. It is set up beautifully,’ the 63-year-old said.
‘If you saw the two captains, Shubman Gill was having an outstanding series and Stokes was getting there.
‘You could almost sense at Edgbaston, he was preserving himself, wanting enough in the tank to go to Lord’s at full pelt.’
The fourth Test of five begins in Manchester on Wednesday, although forecast rain could disrupt its start.
Ravi Shastri was speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, brought to you by Betfair.