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'I Don't Think I've Ever Seen...': Ricky Ponting Massive Claim On Virat Kohli

Kaushik Kashyap

Ponting was full of praise for Virat Kohli. [Source - CricCrazyJohns/X.com]Ponting was full of praise for Virat Kohli. [Source - CricCrazyJohns/X.com]

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Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting was full of praise for Virat Kohli, claiming he has never seen a better ODI cricketer than the Indian star after his match-winning century against Pakistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy. On the back of what was another chasing masterclass from the chase maestro, the Men In Blue got the better of Pakistan quite comfortably on a Sunday evening blockbuster.

After electing to bat first in what looked like a hot and dry day in Dubai, Pakistan had a poor day with the bat as they could manage to post only 241 on the board. In reply, India came out firing and chased down the total without breaking a sweat. Kohli, who was struggling to get big runs coming into this tournament, rose to the occasion and anchored India home by 6 wickets, scoring his 51st ODI ton.

Can Kohli Go Past Sachin Tendulkar?

During his innings against Pakistan, the Indian number 3 completed his 14 thousand runs in ODIs for India and also went past Ricky Ponting in the list of all-time highest run-scorers in international cricket. Speaking on the ICC Review Podcast, the former Australian captain acknowledged Kohli surpassing his international runs’ tally and shed light on if the 36-year-old can go ahead of Sachin Tendulkar to become the leading run-scorer in international cricket.

"With someone like Virat, you never write him off. Now that he's gone past me and only two ahead of him, I am sure he wants to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run-scorer in the game,” Ponting said.

Notably, there is not much of a gap between Kohli and second placed Kumar Sangakkara, who is just 149 runs ahead of him. However, there is still a long way to go for the all-time record by Tendulkar, which is a massive 4341 runs away. Only time will tell if Kohli can push himself to achieve the unthinkable which Ponting believes he will.

"I know he's nice and close to Sangakkara now. But still, a little way to go to catch Sachin. He has obviously been a champion player for a long, long time and an unbelievably good 50-over player. In fact, I think I'm on record before saying I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli," Ponting added.

Having said that, whenever and in whatever way Kohli finishes his career, there is no doubt he has been a modern-day master and arguably the best cricketer we have seen in the one-day format. Moreover, his ability to deliver on the biggest platform sets him apart from the rest as he showed once again on Sunday during the high-octane clash against Pakistan.