It’s Too Early To Consider Virat Kohli Among Batting Greats, Says Ricky Ponting
Feb 7, 2017 at 2:58 PM
Former Australian skipper Ricky Pointing has revealed India’s current skipper Virat Kohli is the best in business in the world across all formats of International cricket.
“Yeah, he probably is. I thought he was six or seven months ago and he’s probably taken it to another level since then,” Ponting was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald when he was asked who is the best with the bat.
The 42-year-old veteran batsman Ponting, who is also the second leading scorer in Test cricket after legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar expressed Kohli has taken the game to another level which according to him is incredible for the game of cricket, but he could not be considered among the batting greats yet.
However, Ponting’s countryman and current Australian skipper Steven Smith is leading the International Cricket Council’s Test chart.
“It’s too early yet to be taking about him being one of the greats. I think the great players we always talk about – the Tendulkars, the Laras, the Kallises – those guys played 120, 130-200 Test matches. Virat’s not even halfway along that path.”
The Tasmania-born Ponting stated Kohli had an outstanding time with the bat who is leading India in all formats after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as a limited-overs cricket last month.
“We will wait and see what happens. I think he’s a similar sort of character to me as well. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s pretty animated. He’s a very aggressive player,” Ponting said.
The dominant force with the bat, Kohli has led India in the consecutive series’ wins against England, New Zealand and West Indies in the recent past before scoring 2595 runs across all three formats in 2016.
“Someone like Virat, you have to take his boundary-scoring areas away and make him score his runs in different areas or make him bat for a longer time to make his runs,” Ponting added.
In his last outing against Australia in Tests, Kohli, who is also seen as the biggest threat for visitors during the upcoming four-match Test series, was the second leading scorer after Smith which included four hundreds.
The 28-year-old Kohli has proven to be a backbone in the recent past for India at the top-order.
“One thing I learnt about playing in India is the momentum that the home team can create, you have to try and stop that,” Ponting remarked.
Kohli, who is averaging 50 in Test cricket, has become the first Indian Test skipper to register three double tons which came in the calendar year of 2016.
The Delhi-born Kohli was also the leading scorer against England in the recently concluded five-match Test series. In eight innings, Kohli scored 655 runs at the staggering average of 109.16.
Ponting, who has also been involved in verbal battles in the recent past had earlier expressed that Australia will struggle on India tour.