Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has lavished praise on Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli, calling him the greatest One-Day International (ODI) batsman he has ever seen. Ponting also believes that Kohli has a strong chance of surpassing legendary Sachin Tendulkar\u2019s all-time ODI run tally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kohli recently scored an unbeaten century\u2014his 51st in ODIs\u2014guiding India to a dominant six-wicket victory over Pakistan in a Champions Trophy clash. The knock not only helped India maintain their dominance over their arch-rivals but also saw Kohli surpass Ponting\u2019s career tally in ODI runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBest ODI Player Ever\u201d<\/strong> With 14,085 runs to his name, Kohli now joins an elite club that includes Sri Lanka\u2019s Kumar Sangakkara and the great Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the all-time record with 18,426 runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kohli vs Tendulkar: The Chase Continues<\/strong> However, he did not rule out Kohli breaking the record. \u201cWith someone like Virat, you never write him off. If he stays hungry, then anything is possible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kohli\u2019s Love Affair with Pakistan Clashes<\/strong> Pakistan\u2019s Struggles Continue<\/strong> Ponting also emphasized the importance of big individual scores in winning matches. \u201cA fifty never wins you games. You need big scores and partnerships. Kohli provided that for India, while Pakistan lacked it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has lavished praise on Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli, calling him the greatest One-Day International (ODI) batsman he has ever seen. Ponting also believes that Kohli has a strong chance of surpassing legendary Sachin Tendulkar\u2019s all-time ODI run tally. Kohli recently scored an unbeaten century\u2014his 51st in ODIs\u2014guiding India to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n
Speaking on ICC Review<\/em>, Ponting stated, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he\u2019s moved ahead of me in the run charts and only two players remain ahead, I\u2019m sure he will push himself to become the all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though Kohli is still 4,341 runs away from Tendulkar\u2019s milestone, Ponting believes it\u2019s not out of reach. \u201cPhysically, he\u2019s as fit as ever and works incredibly hard on his game. It\u2019s crazy to think how good Kohli has been for so long, yet he\u2019s still thousands of runs behind Sachin. That shows how dominant Sachin was and his longevity in the sport,\u201d<\/em> Ponting remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ponting highlighted Kohli\u2019s ability to rise to the occasion against Pakistan, citing his match-winning knock in the 2022 T20 World Cup as another example. \u201cWhenever India plays Pakistan, Kohli brings out his best. In a tricky run chase, it needed a senior batter to step up, and once again, it was Kohli.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Kohli shined, Pakistan\u2019s batting once again failed to deliver. Ponting pointed out that Pakistan\u2019s senior batters, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, could not rise to the occasion. \u201cThey needed to score big runs, but they haven\u2019t been able to do that in the first two games. That\u2019s why Pakistan might not even make the semi-finals,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n