Ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has pointed out the factors that could stop Pakistan from winning the tournament.
Pakistan are one of the pre-tournament favourites and have a strong outfit. They have been performing consistently in the shortest format of the game and would be desperate to make it count in this year’s T20 World Cup.
The likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman are some of the best T20 players in the world and have the ability to propel Pakistan to their second T20 World Cup triumph.
Pakistan’s only title in the tournament came way back in 2009. Last year, they did well in the competition but could not go all the way as they lost to eventual winners Australia in the semifinal.
Ricky Ponting on Pakistan’s chances in T20 World Cup:
While Pakistan are widely considered as one of the pre-tournament favourites, Ricky Ponting believes they are not one of the strongest sides in the competition.
The former cricketer stated that unlike most of the favourites, Pakistan’s fate will depend on one or two players. He stated that a lot will depend on how Pakistan’s talismanic skipper Babar Azam performs. Ponting also stated that one of Pakistan’s strength, spin bowling, won’t have much impact on Australian pitches.
“If Babar doesn’t have a great tournament, I don’t think they can win,” Ricky Ponting said during the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“I saw him up close and personal a couple of years ago out here in a Test series against Australia and I said it then, I thought the sky was the limit for this guy as far as Test match batting (was concerned) and, if anything, he’s probably got better and better in the last couple of years.
“Their openers are very important and their new-ball bowlers are very important, but that role of the spin bowler in Australia might be a little bit more difficult with wickets that probably won’t give them assistance, he added.