‘That's A Concern’: Ricky Ponting’s Bold Remarks On Virat Kohli's Form Ahead Of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting showed his concern over Virat Kohli’s poor form ahead of the high-octane Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While speaking on the latest episode of ICC Review, Ponting pointed out that a batter who has scored just two hundred in the last five years should be dropped from the national team.

The former Australia skipper's bold remarks came after India lost the home Test series against New Zealand where Kohli had a below-average run. 

“I saw a stat the other day about Virat, it said he's only scored two (three) Test hundreds in the last five years. That didn't seem right to me, but if that is right, then that is, I mean, that's a concern,” Ponting said.

“There wouldn't be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that's only scored two Test match hundreds in five years.”

“I've said it before about Virat, you don't ever question the greats of the game,” said Ponting. “There's no doubt, he's a great of the game.

“He loves playing against Australia. In fact, I know he loves playing against Australia. And as I said, his record (in Australia) is very good. If there's a time for him to turn it around, it'd be this series.

“So I wouldn't be surprised to see Virat make runs in the first game.”

Currently, the Indian team is gearing up for the upcoming Test series against Australia, beginning from November 22. As per reports, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to miss the first Test against Australia which is slated to take place in Perth.

India’s Squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.