The T20 World Cup 2022 is nearing, and the anticipation among the fans is evident. Experts from all over the world are weighing in with their predictions and opinions for the mega event, which will take place in Australia. Former Australian great Ricky Ponting has also shared his thoughts on the T20 World Cup.
The World Cup-winning captain has picked his top five players for the T20 World Cup 2022. Two Indians, a Pakistan, an Afghani player, and an English player made it to the list. Surprisingly, no Australia was in his top five players. His top five players are Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Babar Azam, Rashid Khan, and Jos Buttler.
Ponting believes Pandya is the world’s best T20 all-rounder, while Bumrah is the most complete bowler across all three formats. “On current form, it’s pretty hard to go past Hardik Pandya at number three. His IPL was outstanding,” he said on the ICC Review.
“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,” Ponting added.
Pandya has returned to regular bowling, providing much-needed balance to the Indian team. “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 has 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 all-rounder in the world in T20 cricket, and could potentially be in ODI cricket,” said the former Australian captain.
He is probably the most complete bowler- Ricky Ponting on Jasprit Bumrah
Ponting said of Bumrah, who is out of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 due to injury, that he is very good with the new ball. “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,” he 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,” Ponting added.
Ponting lavished praise on Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan. He expects the leg-spinner to be the best performer at the T20 World Cup. He said, “I’ve actually gone with Rashid Khan at number one, and the reason I thought about that was if we actually had a player event in an IPL auction now and there was no salary cap, he’s probably the one that’s going to go for the most amount of money.
“I’ve got him at number one for his consistency, his wicket-taking ability over a long period of time, but also the fact that his economy rate in the T20 game is just outstanding.
“When you’re playing against any team that he’s playing in you probably have less sleep that night than you do for any other game that you play during the year,” he added.
