Virat Kohli may not have hit a hundred for India in the last 968 days and 78 innings but legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting wants the team management to persist with the talismanic batter.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest all-format players of all time, Virat Kohli has been going through an extended dry spell with the bat. During the recent tour of England, the former India captain managed to score just 76 runs in his six outings in a Test match, and two ODIs and T20Is each.
While he perished at scores of 11 and 20 in the rescheduled fifth and final Test against the Three Lions in Edgbaston, Virat Kohli was dismissed for 1 and 11 in the T20I games in Birmingham and Trent Bridge.
Though he missed the first clash of the ODI series because of a groin injury, he didn't succeed in changing his fortunes in the remaining two 50-over matches as he registered a total of 33 runs, making 16 and 17 at the Lord's and Old Trafford respectively.
“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,” the 47-year-old Australia great told Sanjana Ganeshan on the 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,” Ricky Ponting noted.
“And somehow, the best (players) find a way to rebound and respond, and it’s only a matter of time before Virat does that,” Ricky Ponting insisted.
Ricky Ponting, however, is also of the view that in case the Indian selectors chose to omit Virat Kohli from the squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, it would be extremely tough for him to make a comeback to the national team.
“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,” Ricky 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 set up, 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,” the three-time ODI World Cup winner for Australia explained.
Ricky Ponting urged the Indian selectors to pick him for the prestigious event Down Under and offer him a guaranteed spot in the top order because that's the way he would find his best form.
“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,” The most successful Australia skipper argued.
“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, and get some confidence and then be playing your best cricket at the back end,” Ricky Ponting continued.
According to the Tasmanian, Virat Kohli's finest performances have always come when his focus has been laser sharp and he has not been distracted by outside noises and wants captain Rohit Sharma, and head coach Rahul Dravid to make him believe that he was still among the best.
“You still got to find the best balance for the team. You can’t just make the team all about one person,” Ricky Ponting further 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,” the stalwart of 168 Test matches argued said about the India cricket star's batting position.
“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’.”
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