“Don’t tell they are bigger than an Ashes” - Former captain’s subtle dig at India amid AUS vs IND 2025 series

Former England captain Michael Vaughan took a subtle dig at Team India by claiming the Ashes in Australia is a bigger event than an India-Australia series down under. The Ashes 2025-26 is set to begin in less than a fortnight in Perth on November 21.

Despite Australia's home dominance in Tests against England over the past several years, there has been a massive buildup to the upcoming Ashes series. Meanwhile, India and Australia have gone at it at an extremely high level in their recent few Test series down under.

Settling the debate between the bigger of the two series on his X handle, Vaughan posted:

"No question the India v Aussie series of late down under have been more competitive .. but don’t tell they are bigger than an Ashes .. the build up down in Oz for this Ashes is absolutely huge .. you don’t that for an IND v Oz series ."

India won back-to-back Test series in Australia in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 tours by 2-1 margins. They also pushed the Aussies hard on their home turf in the most recent Test series last year before going down 1-3.

Meanwhile, England have struggled to challenge the Aussies in Australia in Tests, losing their last three series, including 13 out of the 15 matches. They last won an Ashes series down under in 2010/11 by a 3-1 margin.

Michael Vaughan makes his prediction for Ashes 2025/26

Michael Vaughan recently predicted his scoreline for the much-anticipated 2025/26 Ashes series. Despite his unwavering support for England's attacking approach under skipper Ben Stokes, the former captain backed the home side to pull off a 3-1 series win.

"Prediction… Australia, just by 3-1," said Vaughan (via News18).

He also believes England would be happy to settle for a 2-2 scoreline, given their struggles in Australia.

"I think they need a trophy. I mean, would I take two-all now? Probably, let's be honest. In the last few series, 2010-11 is the only time that I've seen England have success. We won one Test match in 2002-03, we won three Test matches in 2010-11. We haven't won a Test since. So actually looking at growth in terms of what English cricket is delivering and, crikey, if you could get a two-all series, you'd obviously take that, " said Vaughan (via ESPN India).

The last time England and Australia played in an Ashes series was in England in 2023, with the series ending in a 2-2 draw.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran