The emergence of T20s has produced many power-hitters with ability to smash the ball from the word go. These players rely on brute power and bat swing to clear the fence – a requisite for almost every 20-over game. For bowlers, the format presents a different challenge altogether, but Afghanistan's Rashid Khan seems to have cracked the code. With his ripping googlies and leg-breaks that touch 100 kph, Rashid is a great exponent of the art of spin bowling. The element of mystery helps him trouble the opposition batters even more.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting picked Rashid as the top T20 player in the world, saying the leg-spinner would get the most amount of money in the IPL auction. Having picked up 116 wickets in 69 games, Rashid is currently ranked third in ICC T20I Bowling Rankings.
"Five players is relatively easy, but trying to put them in order from one to five makes it a little bit more difficult. I have 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 is probably the one that is going to go for the most amount of money," Ponting said in the latest episode of ICC Review.
Ponting picked Babar Azam as his second player and underlined his recent run in world cricket. The Pakistan captain is currently ranked first in the ICC Rankings of the shortest format.
{{/usCountry}}Ponting picked Babar Azam as his second player and underlined his recent run in world cricket. The Pakistan captain is currently ranked first in the ICC Rankings of the shortest format.
{{/usCountry}}"Babar Azam I will go for at number two, simply because the number one ranked batter in the T20 game for quite a while now and deservedly so. His record speaks for itself. He is pretty much led the way for that Pakistan team for the last couple of years," he said.
Ricky Ponting's huge praise for in-form Hardik Pandya
Ponting chose Hardik Pandya as his number three player and described the Indian as the best all-rounder in T20 cricket at present. The Australian batting great also named fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as his fifth pick. Pandya headlined the Indo-Pak group stage Asia Cup match with his all-round brilliance, while Bumrah is out of the tournament with a back injury.
"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 has had some really big injury setbacks, which has obviously affected how much he has been able to play for India," said Ponting.
“He was one of the people who is 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.”
“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," Ponting continued.
Star English opener Jos Buttler was Ponting's fourth pick. "I had to pick Jos Buttler in there actually. When you are coaching against him, you just know that he has got something that a lot of other players do not 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 said.