Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes power-hitter Tim David has all the qualities needed to win the ICC T20 World Cup if he is selected in the national side, adding the 26-year-old reminded him of "Andrew Symonds back in the 2003 (ODI) World Cup".
Australia are the reigning T20 World Cup champions and will get a chance to defend the title when they host the tournament in October-November this year. Though David has yet to make his Australia debut despite setting the global T20 circuit alight with his finishing flourish over the past few years, he has shown his ability to hit the ball hard in the Indian Premier League.
The middle-order power-hitter is currently the format's third-highest run-getter worldwide this year with 1,002 runs at a strike rate of 183.51, according to cricket.com.au. He finished the IPL as the lucrative league's leading striker among batters to have faced more than 25 balls 186 runs at a strike rate of 216.27 from eight matches.
"If I was a selector, I'd love to have someone like that in my team," Ponting was quoted as saying in the report. "He's an out and out match winner. He's the sort of player that could actually win you a World Cup; he's not just the average run of the mill guy that might just sneak into a squad.
"He actually reminds me a bit of (late) Andrew Symonds back in the 2003 (ODI) World Cup. You know that if you get them in and give them an opportunity that they're a chance of winning a tournament for you.
"That's how I'd be looking at him right now and I know there's some other quality players in the middle-order for Australia but probably none of them boasts a resume as good as Tim's over the last two years," added Ponting.
While David is more than keen to play a part in Australia's title defence at home this year, time might be running out for his selection in the squad as the event is less than three months away. David first has to be named in the national squad before he can make his T20I debut.
"(David's) a very, very good and very dangerous T20 player that I'm sure the Australian selectors are thinking long and hard about for the World Cup in a couple of months' time," said the veteran cricketer.