Mitchell Starc is arguably the best in the world: Ricky Ponting

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has stated that Mitchell Starc is the best bowler in the world at the moment beyond a shout of a doubt. The 41-year old who captained the Aussies during their best ever period of cricket went on to state that the loss in the recently concluded Sri Lankan series was just a blur and that there was indeed nothing to worry about.

While he did go on to praise Mitchell Starc for all the wonderful and amazing things he had indeed done, it is also clear that ODI cricket at the moment is being played rather aimlessly without much of a goal in mind.

“One-day cricket is the game at the moment that is lacking the most context,” Ponting told reporters at a promotional event in New Delhi. “You just have a one-off series like the Australia-Sri Lanka series, it doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t mean anything. Both teams want to win the series but there is nothing else riding on it. Maybe each ODI will have some sort of relevance for the World Cup rankings but nothing more than that,” Ponting said.

Australia have bounced back from a disappointing Test series…so trust me it’s not all doom and gloom,” Ponting said.

“Mitchell Starc is arguably the best fast bowler in the world at the moment,” Ponting said of the lanky pacer who had returned to Test matches in Sri Lanka after an ankle injury. “We have seen and unearthed some very talented players in the last two or three seasons. David Warner, Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja has been good,” Ponting said of the current lot of players.

Finally, speaking about the pink ball, Ponting said that the sport was not ready to embrace the same just yet. “We have seen it once in Adelaide. It was a great success albeit the game went for just three and a half days, so you can argue there, was it a great spectacle for Test cricket or did it have an adverse effect?” Ponting said of the first day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand last year.

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“But once again I am all for what administrators and fans believe is right for the game. If the fans are calling out for day-night Test cricket then as players and administrators we will do whatever we can to deliver that to them,” he added.