With the T20 World Cup on its head, the former cricketers are making their predictions and analyzing the teams and players to create an exciting environment for battle.
The 8th edition of the T20 World Cup will be played in Australia. Meanwhile, former Australian captain and one of the legends of the game Ricky Ponting has picked his Top 5 best T20 players. In a special segment of The ICC Review, Ponting was asked to pick the top players that he would select for his World T20I team, he picked two Indian among these 5.
Among Indians, the first pick of Ponting is star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya who has been absolutely brilliant since IPL 2022. Ponting also got the lethal Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Rashid Khan was the prime pick of Ponting, with Babar Azam and England’s wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler.
Speaking about Hardik Pandya, Ponting said, “On current form, it’s pretty hard to go past Hardik Pandya at number three. His IPL was outstanding. To see him back at the bowling crease is something that I was always a little bit unsure would actually ever happen, he’s had some really big injury setbacks, which has obviously affected how much he’s been able to play for India.
He added, “But he’s back bowling, and at 140kph which he was doing four or five years ago. But his batting and his maturity while batting have come on in leaps and bounds. He understands the game better and he understands his game better than ever before and right now he’s probably the best allrounder in the world in T20 cricket, and could potentially be in ODI cricket.”
Ponting also praised Bumrah and said,”Jasprit Bumrah is at number five. He is probably the most complete bowler across Test cricket, One Day cricket, and T20 cricket in the world right now. Very good with the new ball when anyone decides to use him that way.
Ponting did not stop here and further said, “India might think of giving him an over with the new ball in Australia (at the T20 World Cup) where it might swing but what you can guarantee is a couple of great high-quality death overs, which every team is looking for – someone that can execute slow balls and bouncers.”
