MELBOURNE: India's go-to fast bowler Jaspit Bumrah is one of the five cricketers in Australian legend Mark Waugh's list of the top T20I players in the world.

The ICC T20 World Cup will be held in Australia next month, and Waugh is certain that 28-year-old Bumrah, who is now rated 45th in the ICC T20I bowling rankings, will shine.

Waugh praised Bumrah, who recently had to miss a few white-ball series to attend to an old back problem, saying, "I believe he's a wonderful bowler in all formats, frankly." In T20 cricket, his ability to take wickets is crucial. He has the ability to bowl up front as well as at the death, said Waugh.

The former all-rounder, who was renowned for his top-order barrage and agile fielding in the slip cordon, included Pakistani fast Shaheen Afridi in his top five. Waugh, a part of Australia's 1999 Cricket World Cup-winning team, said on ICC: "To open the bowling at the other end we'll go with another fantastic opening bowler, Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan, who is a tremendous left-arm fast bowler.

He takes wickets. He kind of motivates the group. The other players look up to him. Another distinction is that he is a left-armer. Afridi, who is ranked 19th among bowlers, said, "He can swing the ball back into the right-hander, he's quick as well, therefore I've put him number two.

The other three players selected by Waugh are Australian all-arounder Glenn Maxwell, England captain Jos Buttler, and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, who is ranked fourth among spinners in 20-over international competition (T20I batting ranking 29th, all-rounder ranking 6th).

The Afghanistan cricketer Rashid is the only one you can count on to bowl four overs in every competition he participates in, according to Waugh.

"He can bat, he will probably get two or three wickets, and he'll go for 20 runs. He has the ability to hit the ball over the fence. Waugh stated of England's white-ball captain Buttler, "I think he is arguably the top batsman in the world of cricket in the T20 format. He simply strikes the ball cleanly. He simply seems to be on a different level from other players, and we have seen him in all events. 

Maxwell is the kind of player who can win you a game in the field and with the bat, according to Waugh. He is probably undervalued when it comes to the ball. And I believe he will win you the game if he hits for 30 balls. Therefore, I believe that Maxwell is the X-factor who can win your game on any given day, despite the fact that he simply isn't a consistent performer.

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