Legendary Australia batter Mark Waugh, who was part of the 1999 ODI World Cup-winning team, has picked his top five players in the shortest format of the game just weeks before the T20 World Cup. Interestingly, Waugh didn't pick either Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma among his top five players list but opted for star Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who recently made a comeback to professional cricket after recovering from an injury.
Waugh picked Bumrah, Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan, England captain and swashbuckling batter Jos Buttler and Australia's explosive willow-wielder Glenn Maxwell as his top five players in the shortest format of the game.
"I think he's a fantastic bowler in all formats, actually,” Waugh began, praising the quick’s versatility. His ability to get wickets in T20 cricket is key. He can bowl at the death and he can bowl up front," Waugh said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.
Bumrah looked like a pale shadow of himself in the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia, which India pocketed by a margin of 2-1. The right-arm pacer conceded 73 runs in six overs against the Baggy Greens and bagged just a solitary wicket in the process.
India will hope for Bumrah to regain his top form in the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa, which starts on September 28 (Wednesday). In Bumrah's absence, the Men in Blue failed to defend massive totals, which was one of the main reasons behind their early exit from the Asia Cup 2022.
