Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has refused to judge Virat Kohli’s form based on his performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, claiming that the pitches have been a “nightmare” for all batters in the Test series thus far. Kohli, who has not scored a fifty in his last 14 innings, has only managed 111 runs in three Tests against Australia, but Ponting is unconcerned.
“I’m not looking at anybody’s form in this Test series because, for a batsman, it has just been an absolute, it’s been a nightmare,” Ponting told ICC Review. “For Virat, I’ve said it before I say it over and over. Champion players always find a way, and yes, it might seem like he’s in a bit of a drought at the moment and he might not be scoring the runs that we all expect him to score.
“And certainly, you know, he’s a realist as well. And we all know as batsmen, when you’re struggling and not scoring runs, you don’t need anybody else to tell you. You’re pretty aware of it yourself. But no, I’m every day of the week putting my hand up and not even showing any sort of concern to Virat Kohli. Because I know he will bounce back.