On Monday, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting named Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya from India among his top five World T20I performers. When Australia participated in their first-ever men's T20I, Ponting served as captain. He scored 98 not out off 55 balls to help Australia defeat New Zealand.
Pandya's reputation as an all-rounder has increased since his international comeback in June as a result of his all-around performances helping India to triumphs, such as the Group A match against Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2022.
"It's difficult to surpass Hardik Pandya at number three given his present performance. His IPL was excellent. He's had some really major injury setbacks, which have clearly limited how much he's been able to play for India. To see him back at the bowling crease is something that I've always been a little uncertain would actually ever happen."
"However, he has resumed bowling and is doing so at 140 kph, as he did four or five years ago. But he has made great strides in both his batting and his maturity while batting. He is currently likely the best all-rounder in the world in T20 cricket and may someday be in ODI cricket because he understands the game and his game better than ever before "defended Ponting's decision to select Pandya on the ICC Review show.
Bumrah is India's go-to ball player despite missing the Asia Cup due to a back ailment. He can help his team win in any situation by using a mix of slower balls, bouncers, and yorkers.
"The fifth place finisher is Jasprit Bumrah. Currently, he is arguably the most versatile bowler in the world for Test, One-Day, and Twenty20 cricket. When used in that manner, he is very adept with the new ball."
In Australia for the T20 World Cup, Ponting said, "India would consider giving him an over with the new ball where it might swing, but what you can guarantee is a couple of fantastic high-quality death overs, which every team is looking for — someone who can execute slow balls and bouncers."
Other players chosen by Ponting include the captain of Pakistan, Babar Azam, the captain of England's white-ball team, Jos Buttler, and the leg-spinner of Afghanistan, Rashid Khan. Despite not having scored many runs for Pakistan in the Asia Cup, Azam has been a prolific run-scorer in white-ball cricket.
"I'll put Babar Azam at number two for the simple reason that he has been the best batter in the T20 game for a long time and rightly so. His track record is self-evident. For the past two years, he has largely served as the team's captain "insisted Ponting.
Ponting chose Rashid as his top choice, however he acknowledged that choosing players in the order of one to five is challenging. Rashid Khan is the player I've chosen to be number one for the reason that, in the event of a player auction in the IPL today without regard to salary caps, he would likely command the highest price.
"His reliability, long-term wicket-taking prowess, as well as the fact that his economy rate in the T20 game is simply exceptional, are the reasons I've had him at number one. You probably get less sleep the night before a game against a team that he plays for than you do for any other game you play during the year."
Before concluding, Ponting explained why Buttler is one of his top five options. "When you're coaching against him, you simply know that he's got something that a lot of other players don't have; the capacity to take the game away in a short period of time opening the batting — which he will do for England this tournament," said one coach of another player.
He was one of the people who's an out-and-out match-winner as we saw with this year's IPL, making three or four hundreds, which was quite remarkable. His batting went to another level in the last year or so."