Australian cricket legend, Ricky Ponting has put his weight behind the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Travis Head to shine in the upcoming edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Ponting predicted Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah to emerge as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, while Australia’s batting sensation Travis Head to top the batting charts.
Explaining the rationale, Ponting believes a stellar show in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 makes Jasprit Bumrah a front-runner to bag the title of most wickets in the T20 World Cup 2024.
The MI pacer 20 wickets in IPL 2024 in just 13 outings while maintaining an economy of 6.48 throughout the tournament. He was ranked third in the list of most wicket-takers in the tournament.
Despite bowling the toughest overs, Bumrah kept his economy rate in check, which shows how potent and accurate he is in the shortest format of the game.
“My leading wicket-taker for the tournament will be Jasprit Bumrah. I just think an outstanding performer, and contributor for a number of years now. He’s just come off an outstanding IPL. What he can do with the new ball, he swings the new ball, he has the seam up,” said Ricky Ponting to ICC.
He talked about Jasprit Bumrah’s potent skill set to bowl the toughest overs while still remaining economical. Bumrah remained under the economy of 7.5 despite bowling the majority of his overs in the middle and death.
“But at the end, his economy rate at the end of the IPL was less than seven runs an over. He takes wickets. He does bowl a lot of the hard overs too. When you bowl the hard overs in T20 cricket, it gives you a chance to pick up a lot of wickets along the way. So, I’m going with him.”
Top Run Scorer in T20 World Cup Prediction by Ricky Ponting
Meanwhile, Ponting was all praise for Australian star opener Travis Head, who has been on-song for the last couple of years. Whether it’s been the ICC tournaments or any cricket league across the world, Head has been a consistent performer for his side.
Travis Head is currently in red-hot form following his outstanding show in the IPL 2024. Though his form took a dip in the last phase of the tournament, he still is a dangerous batter against any side in the world.
“My prediction for the leading run-scorer will be Travis Head. I just think everything he’s done, whether it be red-ball or white-ball in the last couple of years, has been of the highest quality. I think he’s playing fearless cricket at the moment,” he said as he spoke about the probable leading wicket-taker of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Talking about Travis Head’s exploits in the IPL 2024, the Sunrisers Hyderabad opener is ranked fourth on the list of the leading wicket-takers in the tournament. The opening batter has scored 567 runs in 15 outings at a monstrous strike rate of 191.55.
“His IPL had its ups and downs, but when it’s been good, it’s been very good. And it has won games of cricket for his team. And it’ll be exactly the same for Australia. So, look, he might not be the most consistent on the way through this tournament, but he’ll be right up there, I’m sure, with the leading run scorers.”
