"He's trying so hard": Ricky Ponting speaks on Kohli's perpetual struggle

Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025

Indian batter Virat Kohli, who has been a pillar of the Indian batting lineup for many years, has been experiencing one of the most challenging phases in his career. Kohli has been facing criticism for his poor form in the recently concluded Test series against Australia, where he was only able to produce 190 runs from nine innings.

After a series of underwhelming innings, there have been questions raised on Kohli's future in Test cricket. Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting remarking on Kohli's form, compared Kohli's struggle to his own towards the end of his career. Ponting pointed that Kohli is trying hard to get runs.

“The challenge is, and I can see it with Virat now, you can see how much he wants it. He's trying so hard that that actually makes batting harder. The harder you try sometimes with batting, the less success you're to have," Ponting said on the ICC Review.

“I started thinking more about not getting out rather than scoring runs. And that might sound strange, but that's what it was. I was trying to be so perfect, set the right example, play exactly the way my team needed me all the time.”

Having faced the same challenge, Ponting backed the natural style of play to remain good at this stage of the 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 stated.

“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 said.

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