Ricky Ponting: “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”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting was unable to decide whether Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi or his India fast bowling rival Jasprit Bumrah was the better bowler.
Both players have cemented their reputations as elite speedsters in all three formats as they are the leaders of their respective pace attacks, as well as the go-to wicket-takers.
With this in mind, Ponting could not decide whether Afridi was superior than Bumrah or vice versa as he conceded that they are “two of the best performing in the world”.
“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,” he said on The ICC Review as quoted by NDTV.
Afridi has been out of action for the past few months with a knee injury, which he suffered in the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Having missed Pakistan’s entire home season, which consisted of series against England and New Zealand, the 22-year-old is expected to make his comeback in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will captain the Lahore Qalandars.
The Qalandars, who are the reigning champions, kicked off their title defence against the Multan Sultans – the team they beat in PSL 7 last year, on February 13.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 8:Â Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson, Sikander Raza, Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan, Jalat Khan and Jordan Cox, Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings, Shane Dadswell and Kusal Mendis