‘There is some mental…’: Ricky Ponting backs struggling Virat Kohli, gives insights from own career end,
New Delhi: Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that Virat Kohli is trying hard to get runs, that batting has become a difficult task and he has reached the twilight of his career where he is only focused towards saving his wicket. Kohli failed to perform with the bat in Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Once, Kohli was considered as the pillar of India’s batting line-up, but he had a forgetful Test series with the bat against Australia. He ended up scoring only 190 runs in five Test matches at an average of 24, despite scoring an amazing century in the first Test in Perth.
Ponting compared Kohli’s struggle to his own fag end of his career, where he averaged just 39.48 in last five years in Test cricket, down from a superb average of 51.85.
“The challenge is and I can see it with Virat now, you can see how much he wants it. He is trying so hard that that makes batting harder. The harder you try sometimes with batting, the less success you’re to have,” Ponting said while speaking on the latest episode of ICC Review.
“I started thinking more about not getting out rather than scoring runs. And that might sound strange, but that is what it was. I was trying to be so perfect, set the right example and play exactly the way my team needed me all the time,” Ponting added.
Drawing from his own experience, the former Australian captain supported the natural style of play, believing it would serve him well at this stage of his career.
“If I got a half volley, I drove it. If I got a short ball, I pulled it. And I can just see a little bit of that with Virat now, where even the way that he is getting out, you can see he does not want to be playing at those balls,” Ponting said.
“He is trying not to do it, but there is some mental block there that is making him feel for that one outside the off-stump,” Ponting added.
If selectors pick Virat Kohli for the Test series against England in June, probably it will be his last series.