In the lead-up to the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 which will be played in Australia from October 16, legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has weighed in on the debate over who is the better bowler between Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
With 69 wickets in 58 games at an economy of under 7, Bumrah has quite a remarkable record in the shortest format.
Shaheen despite not having as much experience as his rival, has put on several match-winning performances, taking 47 wickets in 40 games with an economy rate of under 8.
Ponting said that although he cannot choose the better bowler among the two, he believes the Indian seamer will be more impactful in the upcoming T20 World Cup because of his experience of playing in Australia.
"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. I'll probably go on experience alone - I'll go for Bumrah. He's played a fair bit of cricket in Australia now, played more in Australia than Afridi, and has played more big tournaments as well than Afridi has," he said in The ICC Review.
Both the star pacers have been out of action for several weeks after sustaining injuries. Afridi is likely to recover from his knee injury before the T20 World Cup, while Bumrah has recovered from a back issue and is set to feature in the 2nd T20I against Australia in the ongoing 3-match series on Friday (September 23) in Nagpur.
(ICC INPUTS)
