Virat Kohli‘s dip in form in Test cricket has been one of the major concerns for many but former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels he should not be questioned due to his current form.
Kohli, who was averaging just under 60 from 2014-2019, has been averaging 31.68 since 2020. His number of centuries have also declined in the last four years. After smashing 21 tons from 2014 to 2019, Kohli has only 2 centuries since 2020. He scored only 92 runs in six innings in India’s recent series whitewash to New Zealand.
However, former Aussie skipper Ponting feels that Kohli could get back into runs in the Border-Gavaskar series. “I’ve said it before about Virat — you don’t ever question the greats of the game. There’s no doubt he’s a great of the game,” Ponting told ICC.
“He loves playing against Australia. In fact, I know he loves playing against Australia. And his record (in Australia) is very good. If there’s a time for him to turn it around, it’d be this series. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Virat make runs in the first game,” he added.
Meanwhile he stressed that Kohli’s ongoing run, where he has scored handful of tons. “I saw a stat the other day about Virat; it said he’s only scored two (three) Test hundreds in the last five years. That didn’t seem right to me, but if that is right, then that is, I mean, that’s a concern.
“There wouldn’t be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that’s only scored two Test match hundreds in five years,” he said.
Ponting also highlighted on Indian batters not being able to play spin as well as their predecessors used to do. “I think the one thing it (whitewash) does probably say is it’s really starting to highlight India’s vulnerability against good quality spin bowling,” he said.
“It seems as though the skill of the modern Indian batsmen of playing spin is probably not what it used to be. Maybe because they’re playing on different wickets in India that are probably for the fast bowlers a bit more, maybe because there are more high-quality fast bowlers in India now that they’re not playing as much spin bowling as they did. Maybe it’s the IPL or how much IPL cricket they’re playing that the younger players are learning the game that way rather than the way that players did 15 or 20 years ago,” Ponting concluded.
