NEW DELHI: Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has predicted India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Australian batting sensation Travis Head to emerge as the leading wicket-taker and run-getter, respectively, in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Ponting, renowned for his cricketing acumen, believes Bumrah’s exceptional pace and ability to deliver crucial breakthroughs will make him the tournament’s top wicket-taker. “My leading wicket-taker for the tournament will be Jasprit Bumrah,” Ponting told The ICC Review. “He’s been an outstanding performer for a number of years now. He just had an exceptional IPL season.”
Bumrah is coming off a sensational IPL season, where he took 20 wickets in 13 games and maintained an impressive economy rate of 6.48, despite the high-scoring nature of the tournament. Ponting highlighted Bumrah’s versatility, stating, “What he can do with the new ball, he swings it, he has the seam up. His economy rate at the end of the IPL was less than seven runs an over. He takes wickets and bowls a lot of the hard overs, giving him more chances to pick up wickets.”
On the batting front, Ponting expects Head’s aggressive and consistent performances to earn him the most runs. “My prediction for the leading run-scorer will be Travis Head,” Ponting said. “Everything he’s done, whether in red-ball or white-ball cricket in the last couple of years, has been of the highest quality. He’s playing fearless cricket at the moment.”
Head suffered an injury at the beginning of the ICC World Cup last year. However, Australia’s belief in his abilities was so strong that they kept him with the squad until he recovered. In his return match against New Zealand, Head repaid the team’s trust with a blistering century. He concluded the World Cup with an impressive record, scoring two hundreds and a fifty, maintaining an average above 50, and striking at a remarkable rate of 127.52.
Head’s exceptional form persisted in the current IPL 2024 season, where he played a crucial role as an opener in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s journey to the final. Throughout the tournament, he amassed 567 runs in 15 matches, maintaining an extraordinary strike rate of 191.55. Despite a somewhat inconsistent conclusion to the IPL season, Ponting anticipates that Head will continue to display his explosive batting prowess during the upcoming matches in the Caribbean and the United States.
“His IPL had its ups and downs, but when it’s been good, it’s been very good and has won games for his team,” Ponting noted. “It’ll be the same for Australia. He might not be the most consistent throughout the tournament, but he’ll be right up there with the leading run-scorers. If he spends any amount of time at the wicket for Australia, he’ll win more games than ever,” Ponting concluded.
