Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Pointing says he was “shocked” at Virat Kohli not too long ago stepping down from Test captaincy however prompt that he should have taken the choice in his bid to do higher with the bat and break some data.
Ponting, one of the profitable captains ever, hailed Kohli for his management abilities, saying that underneath him India had improved its abroad file by winnings extra Tests overseas than earlier than.
He additionally backed Rohit Sharma to do properly as Kohli’s successor.
“Yes, it did actually (surprise me)…I was shocked… Probably the main reason why is I had a chat and good catch-up with Virat during the first part of the IPL (2021) before it got postponed,” Ponting mentioned within the first episode of ‘The ICC Review’.
“He was talking then about stepping away (from captaincy) from white-ball cricket and how passionate he was to continue on to be Test match captain. He just loved and cherished that job and that post so much. When I heard it, I was really, really surprised.” But upon reflection of his personal expertise as captain, Ponting felt Kohli should have weighed in lots of components earlier than his resolution.
“There is probably a shelf-life for worldwide cricket captains and even coaches. Virat’s been there for near seven years now. If there’s a rustic on this planet that’s probably the most tough to captain, it’s most likely India due to simply how well-liked the sport is and the way a lot each single Indian likes to see the fortunes of the group.
“He is 33 years of age now and he’ll need to proceed enjoying for a couple of extra years I’m positive and have a crack at breaking some data that he’s not far off breaking.
“Maybe if he does that as a batter and without the extra responsibility of captaincy, it might make it a bit easier for him,” Ponting mentioned.
The legendary batter lauded the efforts of the Indian group underneath Kohli, even going as far as to say the group’s efforts had been extra “staggering” than that of Australia underneath his captaincy.
“It was extra of a staggering achievement for India than it was for us. When I took over, I took over a aspect that had dominated world cricket for a very long time.
“If you think about India before Virat, it was about winning a lot of games at home and not winning quite as many overseas. The thing that improved most was India winning a few more games overseas…”
“There was a real focus placed on Test cricket by BCCI when Virat took over, and I think a lot of it has come from him as well – to focus more on Test cricket and winning more games home and away.”
Ponting mentioned given his Test file as captain, Kohli can stroll away from the position very happy with what he has achieved.
No different Indian skipper has captained India in additional Tests (68) or received extra matches (40) than Kohli. India misplaced simply 5 of the 24 collection underneath his captaincy.
At house, India didn’t lose a single collection with Kohli as captain. In reality, they misplaced simply two out of 31 matches.
Away from house, Kohli’s India received 16 out of 36 matches, with a formidable win proportion of 44.44, the best for an Indian or Asian captain who has led their group in not less than 10 matches.
Ponting rated India’s 2-1 triumph within the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar as Kohli’s biggest collection win as captain. It was that collection victory that broke India’s jinx — it was their first Test collection win in Australia.
Ponting backed his former Mumbai Indians team-mate Rohit to fill Kohli’s sneakers. He mentioned it was him who prompt Rohit to steer Mumbai Indians when he needed to step down from that position after detached type in 2013.
“The proof is in the pudding with what he has done at Mumbai Indians. He has been a very successful leader there and has been when he has led India on a few occasions as well.”
