India should persist with Virat Kohli, he still has ability to make impact: Ponting

New Delhi: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels India should persist with Virat Kohli at the international level, adding that the star batter still has the ability to have a meaningful impact for the team.

Kohli has not scored a century since November 2019, struggled for runs during this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and even failed to contribute much with the bat during the recently concluded tour of England.

There have been calls to drop him from Team India but Ponting, who captained Australia to two World Cup triumphs in 2003 and 2007, believes the 33-year-old still has that fear factor for the opposition captain or an opposition player.

Difficult time

“I think if I was an opposition captain or an opposition player, I will be fearing playing an Indian team that has Virat Kohli in it, more than I would be one that doesn’t have him in it,” Ponting said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.

“I know there have been some challenges for him, it’s been a difficult time. But every great player that I have seen in this game has been through it at some stage, whether that’s a batsman or a bowler, they have all been through it. And somehow, the best [players] find a way to rebound and respond, and it’s only a matter of time before Virat does that,” he added.

The Australian great believes Kohli’s best performances for his country have come when he has been settled both on the field and off the field. He also feels that India’s coaching hierarchy needs to try and instill that belief back in their star player as soon as possible.

Fixed batting slot

“You still got to find the best balance for the team. You can’t just make the team all about one person. They probably should be trying to find new ways to get him back into the form and help him out,” Ponting noted.

“That [moving him up the order] quite often comes at the expense of someone else as well, you are moving someone else around trying to find a spot for Virat. He has opened the batting, he’s batted at No 3 in the IPL in the last couple of years and done the same for India.

“Moving him around will make him feel that people are worried about him, and he will be more unsettled. I will be going the other way. I’ll be telling him, ‘This is your spot, this is where you’re batting, it’s not going to change. Keep believing in yourself, keep putting in the hard work, keep believing what made you the best player in the world for a number of years — get back to those thoughts and the runs will come’,” he added.

Former India skipper Kohli has been rested from the West Indies series beginning July 22 and he is likely to be back for the Asia Cup.

Wicketkeeping options

Ponting also feels that if India decide to drop Kohli for the T20 World Cup in Australia then there might be no way back for him.

“If you leave Virat out of the eve of the World Cup, and someone comes in and has a reasonable tournament, it will be hard for Virat to get back in it,” Ponting said. “If I was India, I would keep pushing with him, because I know the upside. If they actually get him back confident and playing as well as he can, that upside is better than most. So I think if I was a captain or a coach around the Indian set up, I would be making life as easy as possible for him to feel as comfortable as possible, and just wait for him to flick the switch and start scoring runs again,” he added.

Asked about India’s wicketkeeping options, the former Australia captain said he is well aware of Rishabh Pant strengths, with whom he has worked closely at Delhi Capitals but veteran Dinesh Karthik also must find a spot in the middle-order.

“We have seen what Rishabh is capable of in 50-over cricket and I know absolutely what he is capable of in the T20 game. Dinesh Karthik has had his best IPL ever just very recently… and I would be trying to find every way to have both of those guys in my team,” Ponting said.

“Rishabh to bat, in that three-four-five range, and have Dinesh and maybe Hardik Pandya ... if you have those guys finishing for you, well that batting line-up looks very, very dangerous.

“Obviously that means someone like (Ishan) Kishan or Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) or (Shreyas) Iyer, someone like that, might miss out and I don’t think Surya will miss out given his current form.” But when you have so much talent, picking an Indian team is always going to be difficult and Pant and Karthik would be the two I would pick ahead of Kishan right now.”