Batting legend Ricky Ponting expects power-hitter Tim David to win the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 for Australia if the latter gets picked in the national side.

Under Aaron Finch’s captaincy, Australia won the T20 World Cup in UAE last year and will get a chance to defend the title when they host the marquee event in October-November this year.

While David is yet to make his Australia debut, he has caught everyone’s attention over the past few years with his ability to hit the ball hard in the death overs.

According to cricket.com.au, Tim David is currently the third-highest T20 run-getter with 1,002 runs at a strike rate of 183.51. While playing for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022, the 26-year-old scores 186 runs at a strike rate of 216.27 from eight games.

With his exploits, David has left a lasting impression on Ponting, who compared him with former Australia cricketer Andrew Symonds.

“If I was a selector, I’d love to have someone like that in my team," Ponting was quoted as saying in the report. “He’s an out and out match winner. He’s the sort of player that could actually win you a World Cup; he’s not just the average run of the mill guy that might just sneak into a squad.

"He actually reminds me a bit of (late) Andrew Symonds back in the 2003 (ODI) World Cup. You know that if you get them in and give them an opportunity that they’re a chance of winning a tournament for you.

“That’s how I’d be looking at him right now and I know there’s some other quality players in the middle-order for Australia but probably none of them boasts a resume as good as Tim’s over the last two years," he added.

The T20 World Cup 2022 is barely a few months away and time might be running out for Tim David’s selection in the Australian squad.

"(David’s) a very, very good and very dangerous T20 player that I’m sure the Australian selectors are thinking long and hard about for the World Cup in a couple of months’ time," Ponting stated.

(With cricket.com.au inputs)