Courtesy: Google
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised South Africa all-rounder Marco Jansen following the first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final at the iconic Lord’s. The Protea captain Temba Bavuma elected to field first and his bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen did a sensational job. Rabada grabbed a fifer while Jansen also looked impressive and took three wickets. The left-handed pacer’s three hunts were Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, and Nathan Lyon. Riding on both pacers’ brilliance, South Africa bundled out the defending champions at a score of 212.
Following Jansen’s superb bowling numbers on Day 1, former Australia skipper Ponting expects the lanky player to be one of the best all-rounders in red-ball cricket in the next couple of years. "I think he's going to... be one of the best all-rounders in Test match cricket in the world in the next couple of years. I've loved working with him and I just think he's an extreme talent that is still so young in his international career," said Ponting on ICC Digital show following Day 1 of the WTC 2025 final.
Marco Jansen and Ricky Ponting worked together in IPL 2025
In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, both Ponting and Jansen were associated with Punjab Kings (PBKS) as the former was the head coach of the team while the latter was the side’s premier pacer. Under Ponting’s guidance, Jansen thrived as he took 16 wickets in 14 matches for Punjab in the cash-rich T20 event.
Talking about Jansen’s performance in the second innings of the WTC 2025 final, the speedster has picked up the crucial scalp of Labuschagne. On Day 3, South Africa need two wickets to end Australia’s batting in the second innings and Jansen will look to be at his best to do that at the earliest.
