Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that India seamer Jasprit Bumrah will end up as the highest wicket-taker of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Jasprit Bumrah is coming off an impressive performance in the Indian Premier League 2024. Had Mumbai Indians qualified for the later stages of the tournament, Bumrah could have ended up winning the Purple Cap. During the league stages, he was the leading wicket-taker and the fight was between him and Harshal Patel of Punjab Kings.

Regardless of Jasprit Bumrah not winning the Purple Cap this season, the MI pacer equaled his second highest wicket-taking season of 2017. Back then he had scalped 20 wickets and this season too, Bumrah bagged 20 wickets with much better economy . Cup of 6.48 and average of 16.80 with a best of 5/21.

Ricky Ponting explains why he believes Jasprit Bumrah will be the best wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup 2024

While speaking to the ICC in an exclusive chat, Ricky Ponting praised Jasprit Bumrah highly and also explained why he will take the most wickets. Ponting began by praising Bumrah as an outstanding player who has consistently contributed to the success of the national team in recent years.

Ponting then recalled the season Jasprit Bumrah had in IPL 2024 and stated that his excellence and efficiency with the new ball is incredible. The three-time World Cup-winning captain also highlighted Bumrah’s quality in the death overs, stating that an economy of less than 7 in the final overs is something else.

“My main wicket-taker for the tournament will be Jasprit Bumrah. I think he is an outstanding player, a contributor for several years. He has just come off an outstanding IPL. What he can do with the new ball is swing the new ball, he has the seam up, but in the end, his economy rate at the end of the IPL was less than seven runs an over.” – Ppting told the ICC.

Ponting says Bumrah likes to bowl difficult

One of Jasprit Bumrah’s best qualities, according to Ricky Ponting, is his willingness to bowl challenging overs. Bumrah’s courage to bowl hard bowlers towards the backend is the real reason why Ponting has backed the bowler to lead the wicket-taking chart.

Ponting explained that when a player likes to bowl the difficult overs in T20 cricket, it opens the way for him to pick up a lot of wickets. Ponting therefore chose Bumrah over Mitchell Starc, Gerald Coetzee, Shamar Joseph, Shaheen Afridi and Rashid Khan, among others.

“He takes wickets. He also bowls a lot of the hardovers. When you bowl the hard overs in T20 cricket, it gives you the opportunity to pick up a lot of wickets along the way. So I’m going with it.” – concluded Ricky Ponting.

India schedule for ICC T20 World Cup 2024