T20 World Cup 2022: Ricky Ponting names his top 5 players; picks 2 Indians

Ricky Ponting recently named his five best players for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. The former batter, who led Australia in a couple of T20 World Cups, picked only one non-Asian player and included two Indians.

Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting started with Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan. He believes Rashid would have fetched the maximum amount at an IPL auction had there been no salary cap.

The Tasmanian claimed that batters will have sleepless nights at the thought of facing Rashid in the marquee ICC competition. Ponting stated:

"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."

Ponting next chose Pakistani skipper Babar Azam, who has been spearheading the team's batting for the last two years. He stated:

"Babar Azam I'll go for at number two, simply because (he's been) the number one ranked batter in the T20 game for quite a while now and deservedly so."

The Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach then picked Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, given his resurgence, especially on the bowling front. Ponting feels Pandya understands his game better now, making him a dangerous prospect in white-ball cricket. He explained:

"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. 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."

Hardik surged to fifth spot in the ICC all-rounder's rankings after his performance against Pakistan in the Asia Cup group stage. He took three wickets and stayed unbeaten at 33 off 17 balls to script a memorable win for India.

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"His batting went to another level in the last year or so" - Ricky Ponting on England star

Jos Buttler was one of the most consistent batters in the previous T20 World Cup. (Credits: Getty)

Ponting moved on to pick England's white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, given his ability to swiftly shift the momentum of a game. Ponting elaborated:

"I had to pick Jos Buttler in there actually. When you’re coaching against him, you just know that he's got something that a lot of other players don't have; the ability to take the game away in a short period of time opening the batting – which he will do for England this tournament.

"He was one of the people who’s an out-and-out match-winner as we saw with last year's IPL, making three or four hundreds, which was quite remarkable. His batting went to another level in the last year or so."

Lastly, the former Aussie batter went ahead with Jasprit Bumrah and called him the most complete bowler of the current generation. Ponting believes the right-arm seamer will be very critical to India's chances in the T20 World Cup Down Under. He reasoned:

"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 might think of giving him an over with the new ball in Australia 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."

Australia are the defending champions, having clinched their first T20 title last year, beating New Zealand in the summit clash. The two sides will also open the tournament's main round on October 22 in Sydney.