The legendary Australia National Cricket Team captain Ricky Ponting has picked the best bowler in the world and he surprisingly didn’t select an Australian.
Ricky Ponting said that the India National Cricket Team pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is the best all-format fast bowler.
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He’s clearly the best fast bowler in the world in all formats of the game – Ricky Ponting
Jasprit Bumrah is the designated vice-captain of the Indian Test team, and in the absence of Rohit Sharma, he captained the side to a dominant 295-run win over the Aussies in the Perth Test.
He led from the front with the ball after the Indian batters failed in the first innings of the match. Bumrah got early breakthroughs in his first spell and stunned the hosts. Overall, he bagged 5 wickets in the first innings and 8 wickets in the second innings.
Speaking on ICC Review, Ricky Ponting said that Jasprit Bumrah stood up like a true leader in the Perth Test and showed the world that no bowler is better than him. He stated:
“It was so important for the captain to stand up. I think he showed everyone why he’s the best fast bowler in the world in all formats of the game.”
I think he’s definitely India’s greatest fast bowler – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting said that Jasprit Bumrah was on a different level in the series opener of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He stated:
“What he did there, not only in the first innings but for that entire game – his pace, his consistency, his ability to move the ball, his ability to continually challenge the stumps and hit the stumps, [it] was the difference between him and everyone else that bowled in that game.”
Ricky Ponting claimed that Bumrah is undoubtedly the greatest pacer to come out of India and added that he can finish as the best to ever do it if he keeps performing the way he is at the moment.
“I think he’s definitely India’s greatest fast bowler. A lot of the greats before him didn’t play all three formats as much as he has. I can put my hand up and ask people to sit back and watch and say that in T20 cricket, one-day cricket and Test match cricket, he’s clearly the best right now,” Ricky Ponting said.
“It’s not all about wickets. It’s about performing at a high level for a long period of time. We saw the other day when he gets the right conditions, just how good he can be. If he keeps going the way that he is, then there’ll be a lot of people saying what Glenn Maxwell said, I’m sure,” Ponting said, highlighting Maxwell’s ‘potentially best fast bowler of all-time’ comment for Bumrah.
I’d charge him every ball, I’d run down the wicket, I’d hit him back over his head – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting was also asked how he would have planned to deal with Bumrah if he was still playing in the Aussie shirt. The legendary skipper came up with a humorous response, saying that he would have gone aggressive and smashed the bowler over his head. He elaborated:
“I’d charge him every ball, I’d run down the wicket, I’d hit him back over his head. That’s very much a joke, but I’d try to be proactive and put pressure back on the bowler. I’d be reacting to the ball, but I’d be trying to score. Like I said, the reason that he’s so good is because he doesn’t let you score.
“The flip side of the best bowlers not letting you score is that the best batsmen don’t allow bowlers to bowl that way. That’s the way I would approach it as well.”