NEW DELHI: Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has found a place in former Australian cricketer Shane Watson's list of top five T20 bowlers of all time.
Watson posted a video on T20 Stars' Youtube channel, naming his top five T20 bowlers of all time. Apart from Bumrah, Sri Lanka' Lasith Malinga, former Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, West Indies' Dwayne Bravo, and Sunil Narine featured in the list.
"The first one in my top 5 T20 bowlers of all time is the greatest T20 bowler, Lasith Malinga... His execution of yorkers is something that has not been seen before and might not be seen again for a long period of time," Watson said in the video.
"Number two is Shahid Afridi. I am just talking about his bowling right now, he is obviously an incredibly dynamic batsman but from bowling perspective, he is the perfect T20 bowler. He is a wicket-taker but also, he does not concede that many runs. And that is a T20 bowler you always need in your team," he added.
Praising the Indian pacer, Watson said Bumrah's impact has been "absolutely phenomenal" and the fast bowler will have a great career ahead. "He, for me, is an all-round package. He is only 26 at the moment but the dominance that he has had in T20 cricket so far as a bowler is absolutely phenomenal," Watson said.
"He has got speed, he can swing the bowl both ways, he has got a great change of pace, his execution of his yorkers is incredible as well... Facing him is a huge challenge, he has got so many different high-quality bowling options and you got to be absolutely on your game to be able to score and put him under pressure. I am sure he will be absolutely great at the end of his career in T20 cricket alone with incredible skills that he has got," he added.
Watson then named West Indies duo Bravo, who became the first bowler to reach the mark of 500 wickets in T20 cricket in August, and Narine.