Cricket News

‘I will be fearing playing an Indian team that has Virat Kohli in it’ – Ricky Ponting backs Virat Kohli despite his lean run

Virat Kohli has been going through a slump in form which has worsened post his captaincy stint. This has forced a lot of people to come up with criticism for the batter. Many do want the batter to be dropped from the 20-20 World Cup squad and they feel that he does not fit into the squad anymore. However, many greats of the game have backed the batter as well. Ricky Ponting, recently, came forward to heap praise on the former Indian skipper.

He said that if he was the captain of the opposition team, he would be fearing a squad that has Virat Kohli’s name in it, rather than the one which doesn’t. He believes that Virat will get back to his very best and one had to trust him in all aspects.

“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,” Ponting said.

He also said that leaving Virat Kohli out of the World Cup squad might prove to be the dead-end for the batter. He said that he will find his form if he bats at no. 3 and sticks to his basics.

“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,” told Ponting on the Cricket Governing Body’s review show. He said that if he was the coach of the Indian team, he would reckon to play Virat at no 3 and fix him up there without making changes.

“I will be going the other way. If I was the coach of captain, I would 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’,” Ponting added. He said that to score runs and gain confidence, Virat must play the T20 World Cup.

Virat has been the talk of the town and one has to wait to see if he can answer all the critics with his bat.