Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah among Ponting’s top five in Asian heavy World T20I team

Jasprit Bumrah at The Oval in Sep 2021

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has named five cricketers he would choose while drawing up his World T20I team. Interestingly, the batting icon picked two Indians in his list, which also features Englishman Jos Buttler.

Pandya, Bumrah find slots in Ponting’s elite T20I five

A limited-overs legend himself, Ponting recently interacted on the latest episode of the ICC Review. When asked to pick the first five players he would choose while crafting his T20I World XI line-up, the Australian named Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya and ace paceman Jasprit Bumrah in his list.

The former cricketer praised Pandya for his all-round and leadership abilities, the latter of which was evident during his IPL 2022 winning run for Gujarat Titans. The ICC Hall of Famer said:

“He (Hardik Pandya) 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.”

“the most complete bowler across Test cricket, One Day cricket and T20 cricket in the world right now.”

Additionally, the two-time World Cup winning captain selected Afghanistan’s enigma machine Rashid Khan and Pakistan’s batting maverick Babar Azam among his five first-choice players.

Notably, as many as four Asians made it to Ponting’s top five, with England limited-overs skipper Jos Buttler being the only outsider.

Ricky Ponting’s latest ICC Review, watch video

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