Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said that there are better fast bowlers than Mohammed Shami in India’s T20 cricket circuit as the pacer was left out the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Ponting said while Shami has been good in all formats, he can be better utilised in Test cricket
“He’s (Shami) been a very, very good bowler for India for a long time now. If you look at his strengths, his Test cricket is probably where he thrives the most,” Ponting, a two-time World Cup-winning captain, said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“I think there are better fast bowlers in Indian T20 cricket than Shami and they’ve only named three (for the Asia Cup). So if there’s potentially four named in the squad he might be the fourth man in.”
Ponting also opined that India might go with only four fast bowlers in the upcoming World Cup in Australia.
“I would think they’ll probably only have the four quicks coming to Australia. They’ll still want to bring a lot of spin here even though the wickets are probably not that conducive,” Ponting said.
The Aussie also predicted that India would be the favourites in the Asia Cup.
“It’s always hard to go past India in any tournament, not just an Asia Cup, but I think every time we talk about the T20 World Cup which is coming up, I think that India will be right in the thick of it there,” the 47-year-old said.
“Their depth is definitely better than the other teams and I think India will win the Asia Cup.”