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Ricky Ponting Makes Explosive Remark On Babar Azam; Compares His Downfall With Virat Kohli

Anurag Dasgupta

Ponting urges Babar to learn from Kohli [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X.Com] Ponting urges Babar to learn from Kohli [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X.Com]

Former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting has made an explosive remark on Babar Azam and stated that the former Pakistan skipper should take a leaf out of Virat Kohli's book and take a break from the game of cricket for the sake of his career.

Babar dropped from Test squad due to nightmare 2024

The Pakistan selectors made a surprising yet a bold call when they dropped Babar Azam from the second and third Test Vs England. In. the first Test at Multan, Babar had a flop show and couldn't score runs on a flat track. As a result, the newly formed selection panel decided to axe him, alongside Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.

The former captain has not scored a Test fifty since December 2022 and looked a pale shadow of himself throughout the year as he turned into a walking wicket. After getting sacked from the Test side, Babar returned to the ODI side for the Australian tour and looked compact in the first ODI as he scored a gritty 37.

Despite a decent outing against the Aussies in the first ODI, Ponting remains concerned about Babar's place in the Test team and wants him to learn from Kohli.

“You know, when you look at (Babar’s) numbers, it's been a bit like the stuff that we were talking about with Virat [Kohli] earlier on,” Ponting said. “Sometimes – and I think Virat was on record saying this – that little bit of a break that he had, he took himself away from the game for a while to freshen up and sort out some things that he needed to sort out.

“This might be exactly what Babar needs. Maybe Babar needs to get away for a while and stop trying too hard. Lock the kit bag away for a while, and think about something else and then hopefully come back recharged, because we know at his best he's as good as anyone going around. Hopefully we get to see that in the back half of his career again.”

Why did Virat Kohli took a break from cricket in 2022?

From 2021 starting till 2022 July, Virat Kohli had a big slump in form. The then India skipper wasn't at his best as he struggled for runs and just like Babar, became a walking wicket. He showed glimpses of his brilliance, but couldn't convert them into big scores.

After a disastrous England tour in 2022, Kohli decided to take a break from the game. He didn't touch the bat for a month and came back charged up during the Asia Cup in 2022. After the break, Kohli 2.0 was born as he looked fresh and was back to his usual self as he finished as the leading run-getter in the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 World Cup in India.