There are better fast bowlers in Indian T20 cricket than Mohammed Shami: Ricky Ponting

Australian legend Ricky Ponting feels Mohammed Shami’s strength lies in the longest format and there are better quick bowlers in India’s T20 set up, weighing in on his absence from the Asia Cup squad.

India have picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh as the three specialist fast bowlers with all-rounder Hardik Pandya being the fourth pacer in the 15-member squad.

“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.”

With Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel nursing injuries, many felt Shami might be included to share the new-ball duties during the Asia Cup.

“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 Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11 and Ponting picked India as the favorites to win the tournament.