I will be fearing playing Indian team that has Virat Kohli in it: Ricky Ponting

Former Australia batter and World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting has talked about Virat Kohli’s recent form and has emphasized the fact that he is worth persisting in the international arena. The right-handed batter has been struggling to score runs for quite a long time.

Kohli also did not perform well during the recently concluded India tour of England. The Indian batter got several starts with the bat but could not make a big one. He scored only 12 runs during the last two T20Is. Kohli has also been rested for the upcoming white-ball tour against West Indies.

Earlier, Kohli was also not able to score runs for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Meanwhile, Ponting has stated that the Men in Blue should stick with Kohli for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Team India under the leadership of Rohit Sharma would be looking forward to lifting their second T20 World Cup.

Virat Kohli still has the ability to have a meaningful impact: Ricky Ponting

“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,” Ponting said during ICC review.

“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,” he added.

Talking about Kohli’s numbers in the T20I format, the 33-year-old has played 99 matches and scored 3308 runs at an excellent average above 50. He has the highest score of 94 runs and has played several memorable knocks for his country while winning several matches for India.