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Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, who also served as the batting coach for the Indian men’s team, has included two Indian bowlers in his top five list globally. Surprisingly, legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin did not make the cut, nor did Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan or Australia’s Mitchell Starc.
Ashwin is the second Indian bowler to reach 500 Test wickets, while Rashid has earned acclaim for his spin bowling in white-ball cricket. Starc, meanwhile, was the leading wicket-taker in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups and played a crucial role in Australia’s World Cup victory last year.
In his top-five bowlers list for world cricket, Bangar named Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami from India, alongside the Australian pair of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. He also included New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult in his selection.
“Top five bowlers, one obviously Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami—phenomenal skillset, a work horse. Josh Hazlewood—a guy I highly respect; Pat Cummins as well, somebody’s who has got a big heart and he performs consistently despite coming out of a back injury. Now he is playing consistent cricket, so those four and Trent Boult. I have picked four right-handers and one left-armer, so Trent Boult has to be part of my top-five,” Bangar said on The Rao Podcast.
Bangar, who has worked with the Punjab Kings in the IPL, also clarified why he left Rashid Khan out of his top-five bowlers list.
According to him, “When you think of a question, you think what is the gold standard, and the gold standard is Test cricket. So, all my choices have been as per the gold standard. When you talk about top-five white-ball bowlers, then obviously Rashid Khan would certainly come in.”
When asked to select his top five batters, the 51-year-old included Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson in his list.
