‘Best 50-over player I’ve seen’: Ricky Ponting backs Virat Kohli to break Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI run-scoring record | Cricket News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting has heaped reward on Virat Kohli, acknowledging the Indian famous person’s consistency and longevity in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Speaking on The ICC Review, Ponting — himself one of the best run-scorers in ODIs — expressed confidence in Kohli’s capability to end because the format’s all-time main run-getter.
Kohli, throughout his beautiful century in opposition to Pakistan in Dubai on the ICC Champions Trophy, surpassed the 14,000-run milestone, and is forward of Ponting, who’s fourth with 13,704 runs, within the all-time ODI run charts. With 14,085 runs, Kohli trails solely Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) and Sachin Tendulkar (18,426).
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“He’s obviously been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly in the white-ball formats, where he’s been an unbelievably good 50-over player,” Ponting stated. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he’s gone past me and with only two ahead of him, I’m sure he would want to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game.”
Ponting believes Kohli’s health and starvation will play an important function in his bid to surpass Tendulkar’s 18,426-run landmark, a record many as soon as deemed untouchable. “As long as the hunger’s there — obviously physical-wise, he’s probably as fit as he’s ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game,” he added.

Despite Kohli needing over 4,000 extra runs to overtake Tendulkar, Ponting refuses to rule him out. “It’s crazy when you think about it, isn’t it? Just how good Virat’s been over such a long period of time, yet he’s still 4,000 runs behind Sachin. It just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game,” Ponting stated. “But with someone like Virat, you never write him off. If the hunger’s still there, then I’m never going to write him off.”
Kohli’s century in opposition to Pakistan was one other testomony to his brilliance in excessive-stress conditions. His unbeaten knock not solely steered India to a six-wicket win but additionally cemented his legacy with extra particular person milestones.
The Indian bowlers, led by Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) and Hardik Pandya (2/31), restricted Pakistan to 241, making certain a manageable chase. India stumbled early, however Kohli’s unshakable presence within the center, mixed with Shreyas Iyer’s composed 56, helped the Men in Blue get throughout the road comfortably.