Mark Waugh names Jasprit Bumrah as one of his top five T20I players

Former Australian opening batter Mark Waugh has picked his top five T20I players. The cricketer-turned-commentator picked three Asian cricketers in his elite list.

Mark Waugh began with Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, given his expertise in all formats and ability to bowl in all phases in the shortest format. He was quoted as saying by the ICC:

"I think he's a fantastic bowler in all formats, actually. His ability to get wickets in T20 cricket is key. He can bowl at the death and he can bowl up front."

The former Aussie cricketer moved on to pick Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi for his wicket-taking abilities with the new ball. He thinks Afridi's left-arm action is a key differentiator.

"To open the bowling at the other end we'll go with another right opening bowler, Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan, who is a tremendous left-arm fast bowler. He's a wicket-taker. He sort of lifts the team. He's a guy that other players follow.

"He is a left-armer so that’s another point of difference. He can swing the ball back into the right-hander, he’s quick as well, so I’ve got him (at) number two."

The 57-year-old then chose Afghan leggie Rashid Khan for his consistency with the ball in terms of breakthroughs and power-hitting with the bat.

"In all competitions he plays in, he’s just the one guy who you know is going to bowl four overs. He’ll probably get two or three wickets and go for 20 runs, and he can bat. He can also whack the ball over the fence."

Rashid is currently one of the premier T20 bowlers in franchise cricket. In October 2021, the 24-year-old became the fastest to take 100 T20I wickets.

"He's just a clean striker of the ball" - Mark Waugh on Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler was England's top batter in the 2021 T20 World Cup. (Credits: Getty)

Mark Waugh went ahead with England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler for his magnificent striking ability and considers him the number one T20 batter.

"I think he's probably the number one batsman in world cricket in the T20 format. He's just a clean striker of the ball. We've seen him in all tournaments, he just looks on a different level to other players."

Mark Waugh's last pick was his fellow countryman Glenn Maxwell, who he thinks brings in the X-factor for Australia.

"With the ball, he's probably underrated, but I think if he bats 30 balls, he'll win you the game. So I think Glenn Maxwell, even though he's just not a consistent player, he's that X-factor that can win your game on any given day."

The likes of Bumrah, Afridi, Rashid, Buttler, and Maxwell are expected to play key roles for their teams in the T20 World Cup 2022 starting next month in Australia.