Former Australian Captain Ricky Ponting has commented on Virat Kohli’s recent form. Ponting backed Virat Kohli in the ICC Review.
Ricky Ponting even said about how Virat Kohli can overcome this. Ponting even talked about how the Indian batting order should be in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.
Virat Kohli struggled to find the form in IPL 2022. Kohli scored his last century in the International format in November 2019. Ricky Ponting still believes that Virat Kohli has a lot of cricket still remaining to play.
While speaking with Sanjana Ganesan in the ICC review, Ponting said that India should stick with Virat Kohli in the team. They should back him instead of dropping him from the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. It will give a lot of confidence to him. Dropping Kohli from the team will be unfair.
Read more: WATCH: Jos Buttler backs out of form Virat Kohli
Kohli and the Fear Factor
Ricky Ponting who helped Australia to win the 2003 and 2007 World Cup believes that Kohli still has the ability to have a meaningful impact.
Ponting said, “I think if I was an opposition captain or an opposition player, I will be fearing playing an Indian team that has Virat Kohli in it, more than I would be one that doesn’t have him in it.”
“I know there have been some challenges for him, it’s been a difficult time.
“But every great player that I have seen in this game has been through it at some stage, whether that’s a batsman or a bowler, they have all been through it.
“And somehow, the best (players) find a way to rebound and respond, and it’s only a matter of time before Virat does that.”
Know about: Virat Kohli posts an interesting ‘Perspective’ tweet amid growing talk over his run drought
Now or never situation for Kohli
Ricky Ponting feels that if India plays the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup without Virat Kohli, then it might be difficult for Virat Kohli to come back.
“If you leave Virat out of the eve of the World Cup, and someone comes in and has a reasonable tournament, it will be hard for Virat to get back in it,” Ponting said.
“If I was India, I will keep pushing with him, because I know the upside. If they actually get him back confident and playing as well as he can, that upside is better than most. So I think if I was a captain or a coach around the Indian setup, I will be making life as easy as possible for him to feel as comfortable as possible, and just wait for him to flick the switch and start scoring runs again.”
Kohli will score runs eventually
Ponting said that selectors must give Virat Kohli a spot in the Top Order. And he should bat at the same position throughout the tournament. Kohli can score runs in the knockout stages as he loves to perform on the big stages.
“Early in the tournament, for a first-round game, (it’s important to) get him in nice and early, among the runs, and then hopefully by the end of the tournament you’ll have Virat Kohli back at his best,” Ponting said.
“That’s the way I would look at it. I wouldn’t think about holding him back at the start of the tournament, with the thought that you might be able to bring him back towards the back end and have him peak. Tournament play isn’t like that.
“You need to work your way into the tournament, get some runs under your belt, get some confidence and then be playing your best cricket at the back end.”
Backing Virat Kohli to gain his confidence back
Ponting believes that Virat Kohli needs the backing of the Coach and Management. So that he can gain back his confidence. And he will deliver the results.
“You still got to find the best balance for the team. You can’t just make the team all about one person,” Ponting said.
“They probably should be trying to find new ways to get him back into the form and help him out. That (moving him up the order) quite often comes at the expense of someone else as well, you are moving someone else around trying to find a spot for Virat. He has opened the batting, he’s batted at No.3 in the IPL in the last couple of years and done the same for India.”
“Moving him around will make him feel that people are worried about him, and he will be more unsettled.”
“I will be going the other way. I’ll be telling him, ‘This is your spot, this is where you’re batting, it’s not going to change. Keep believing in yourself, keep putting in the hard work, keep believing what made you the best player in the world for a number of years – get back to those thoughts and the runs will come’.
