Ricky Ponting Believes Pakistan Lacks Quality to Qualify for 2022 T20 World Cup Final

Former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, believes that the Pakistan team does not have what it takes to qualify for the final of the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup. Ponting stated that defending champions Australia and former champions, India will be the favorites for the mega-event and they will make it to the final.

Ponting added that England also posses a strong team and have the potential to pose a challenge to Australia and India in the quest to win the T20 World Cup title. Ponting stated that these three teams look a class above the rest of the teams on paper.

The 47-year-old said that the Men in Green do possess some quality players on their side but their overall team combination will not be successful in the conditions on offer in Australia. He said that Pakistan are too heavily reliant on the opening partnership of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan which could also lead to their downfall.

If Babar doesn’t have a great tournament, I don’t think they can win.

“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.

The World Cup-winning captain praised Babar for his brilliant run of form in recent years. He stated that he saw Babar play against Australia in a Test series a few years ago and was left in awe of his batting skills. He added that he thought that the sky was the limit for Babar and he has gone on to exceed his expectations.

Ponting concluded that it would not surprise him if Pakistan, New Zealand, or West Indies make it to the final as these three teams excel in this particular format.