Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has compared the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the Ashes after he made a bold statement on the upcoming series between the nations on Saturday (Aug 10). India will face Australia in a five-match Test series later in the year as the nations compete in a repeat of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final. The two nations are top contenders to reach the 2025 WTC final but a lot will depend on the outcome of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“The Border Gavaskar Trophy and the Ashes are both massive tours on the Australian cricket calendar and are largely comparable in commercial terms, with fantastic crowds and huge broadcast audiences for each. Ticket sales from India are already six times greater than for the previous non-COVID series,” Hockley told Hindustan Times.

The series will start on November 22 as the sides will square off the first Test match in Perth. The will also break the tradition of a four-match series as it will move into a five-match cycle starting from the upcoming tour. This will mean that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be in power with the Ashes as both tournaments will consist same number of matches.

The series will be new coach Gautam Gambhir’s first big test away from home as he tries stamping authority on the side. Gambhir took over as the coach of the side during the Sri Lanka tour where India lost the ODI series 2-0 while they had earlier won the T20I series 3-0.

The tour is likely to be Rohit Sharma’s last away assignment as captain (unless they reach the WTC final) in the Test format. It is also likely to be Virat Kohli’s last away tour to Australia in the Test format as he reaches the twilight of his career. He did not participate in the entire Test series having opted to return to India for paternity leave. Ajinkya Rahane would then help India win the series Down Under in 2020-21 while Ravi Shastri was still the coach.