Ex-Australia skipper Ricky Ponting had picked India’s Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in his top World’s five T20I players Ponting was the skipper of Australia when they played in their first-ever men’s T20I, making 98 not out off 55 balls in a match-winning performance against New Zealand.
Since his international comeback in June, Pandya’s stock as an all-rounder has been on the rise with his all-round performances leading India to victories, an example of which was the Group A match against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.
“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.”
“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 all-rounder in the world in T20 cricket, and could potentially be in ODI cricket,” explained Ponting on the ICC Review show for picking Pandya.
Despite not featuring in the Asia Cup due to a back injury, Bumrah is India’s trump card with the ball, able to deliver the goods for his team in any phase of the match with his variety of slower balls, bouncers and yorkers.
“Jasprit Bumrah in 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.”
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 23.
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