Ponting predicts bowler who will perform better than Afridi in World Cup

Ricky Ponting reckoned that Jasprit Bumrah will perform better than Shaheen Shah Afridi in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

He said that both players are currently ruling the game but he had to give it to Bumrah because of his experience, especially in Australian soil.

“Look, how do you split those two guys? They are two of the best performing bowlers in the world in the last couple of years in all formats of the game,” Ponting was quoted as saying to host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.

“I’ll probably go on experience alone – I’ll go for Bumrah. He’s played a fair bit of cricket in Australia now, played more in Australia than Afridi and has played more big tournaments as well than Afridi has.”

“Buttler is the best dynamic player in the world”

Ponting also went on to compare Jos Buttler and Babar Azam. He said that the latter is technically the best player in the world but Buttler is more dynamic and his strike rate tells us the story.

“Babar Azam, he is technically a better player than Buttler. You look at their strike rates though and there is no comparison there, Buttler is much more dynamic, sort of a more 360-degree player than Babar is,” Ponting said.

He also added that Buttler has a good chance of finishing on top in the World Cup because of playing Big Bash League in Australia. Jos Buttler has been a regular in the BBL and is likely to play a major role in the World Cup. However, players like Babar Azam, Virat Kohli have never played in the BBL for various reasons.

“Buttler has also played more cricket in Australia with England and he has spent some time in the Big Bash with Sydney Thunder. So I’m going to go Jos Buttler on this one,” he added.

Babar Azam is going through a lean patch as well. He couldn’t make a big score in the Asia Cup and was heavily criticized for his strike rate. He failed in the first T20I against England as well.

Babar Azam’s Pakistan will host England in the second match of the seven-match T20I series on Thursday. England have won the first match because Alex Hales’ half-century.