T20 World Cup 2022 – Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has named two Indian stalwarts in his first five picks for a World t20I side. The ICC Hall of Famer chose to go with Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace Jasprit Bumrah as two amongst the finest cricketers in the format. Hardik is currently in action in the Asia Cup T20 while Bumrah is currently rehabilitating from an injury. Follow ICC T20 World Cup updates with InsideSport.IN
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T20 World Cup 2022: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting names Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya among best five for World t20I team – Check out
Speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was asked to select the first five players he would choose for a World T20I team. Ponting is a globe trotter with commentary and coaching gigs around the world and did not pick a single Australian in his top five.
Instead, Ponting chose two Indian stalwarts in Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah among his top five. The others include Rashid Khan, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and English trailblazer Jos Buttler. Hardik has been in fine form for India since his comeback earlier this year. Bumrah meanwhile has been the go-to man fro India before his injury ruled him out of the Asia Cup.
Speaking of Hardik, Ponting said, “On current form, it’s pretty hard to go past Hardik Pandya at number three. 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 however admitted that he never thought Pandya could return to his original levels given his injury setbacks over the past few years. hardik struggled with a back injury and required multiple surgeries and came back winning the title with the Gujarat Titans.
“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 has come on in leaps and bounds,” said Ponting.
T20 World Cup 2022: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting names Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya among best five for World t20I team – Check out
When speaking of Bumrah, Ponting named him as the ‘most complete’ bowler across all formats of the game. He said, “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 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,” the former Australian skipper added.
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