The debate between India-Pakistan and the Ashes as the greatest cricket rivalries is among the hottest topics for cricket fans for years.
While India's rivalries with Australia and England have become cutthroat over the past couple of decades, an India-Pakistan match always attracts massive global attention.
As a testament to the great rivalry, the 2023 World Cup match between India and Pakistan drew a whopping 132,000 people in attendance.
Many fans in the West consider the Australia vs England rivalry the greatest, primarily because of being the oldest battle in cricket.
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However, having played in and coached in the India-Pakistan matches, Ravi Shastri has picked it to be bigger than the Ashes.
Is India-Pakistan bigger than the Ashes?
When asked about the bigger cricketing rivalry on the Stick to Cricket podcast, Shastri responded to Michael Vaughan by picking the Asian rivalry, highlighting the foreign attraction to the match.
"I would say, in the years I have played, India-Pakistan. The interest it generates from the outside is massive," said Shastri.
However, following India's back-to-back series wins in Australia, the commentator also picked India-Australia as the battle that has taken over in recent years.
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He also pointed out the record attendance of 373,691 during the last Boxing Day Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"In the last 10 years, India-Australia has taken over. In cricketing terms, India, Australia, and England have had some fantastic series. Like this year, you got more crowds in MCG for the Boxing Day Test.
The 2024 Boxing Day Test, notably, surpassed the previous attendance record of 350,534 set in 1936, where the Australians came to watch Sir Don Bradman's team play.
While the former England captain Alastair Cook thought Australia-England to be the greater brawl as an Englishman, he seconded Shastri's point about the global reach for the India-Pakistan match.
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Following last year's packed MCG Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Shastri also remarked that the Ashes could draw similar crowds, provided they put up a great series in the build-up.
Interestingly, with both the Asia Cup and the Ashes scheduled for the coming months, fans will soon witness both rivalries intensify.
India and Pakistan are set to face off in September, while England will travel to Australia later this year for a five-match Test series.