Pat Cummins thinks it is 50-50 between India and Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy while Steve Smith says he is looking forward to the big summer.

“The most recent Test match was, of course, the World Test Championship in neutral conditions, and we came out on top in that match. It’s always fiercely competitive, and it always feels like it’s 50-50. I’m 10 out of 10 excited for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” the Australia captain told Star Sports.

“The last two series here in Australia, we haven’t been successful, so it’s been a long time. Hopefully, it’s time to make amends. You know, we’ve played them plenty of times where they’ve beaten us, but we’ve also had plenty of wins against them as well, which we’ll draw confidence from,” Cummins further said.

India currently holds the coveted trophy, having won the last home and away series. Australia last won the trophy in 2014-15.

Sharing his thoughts on the series, Smith said, “It’s going to be a great series. You know, India has been playing outstanding cricket. We’ve been playing really good cricket for the last couple of years. You know, we haven’t beaten India in the last two times they’ve come out here. It has a terrific side and, a very well-balanced team, all bases are covered.

“So, you know, they’ve played really good cricket out here. They’ve played good cricket when we’ve been over in India as well, where we know they’re very, very difficult to beat. So it’s going to be a big summer. It’s going to be an exciting one. And yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

Mitchell Starc said the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is as big as the Ashes. “For Australian cricket, you’ve got the Ashes and then you’ve got the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in there. I mean there’s a long history in the Ashes but that Border Gavaskar rivalry, if you like, has just grown from strength to strength over each series and now we see it as a five-Test match series which is fantastic for not only the rivalry but for the series as well.

“Whether it’s the caliber of player, the caliber of matches that we see as fans and as cricketers just continue to grow strength on strength each series and now India winning several series in a row, it’s created even a bigger rivalry between the two countries. I mean both teams are well known to one another, we play each other very often across the formats so I’m sure it’ll be another exciting series but one I think that both experienced sides will showcase some fantastic cricket.”