Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has hailed Virat Kohli as the best ODI player he has ever seen and backed him to surpass Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run-scorer in the 50-over format. Kohli’s exceptional unbeaten 100, his 51st ODI century, helped India secure a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match on Sunday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he’s overtaken me in the all-time run-scorers list, and with only two batters ahead of him, I’m sure he will want to be remembered as the leading run-scorer in the game,” Ponting said in an ICC Review interview.
During his century, Kohli crossed the 14,000-run mark in ODIs, joining an elite club with Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara. Currently, he has 14,085 runs, still 4,341 runs behind Tendulkar’s record of 18,426 runs. Given that Kohli is 36 years old, time may not be on his side to surpass the Indian legend, but Ponting believes it is not impossible.
“Physically, he’s probably as fit as he has ever been and works exceptionally hard on his game. It’s crazy to think how good Virat has been for so long, yet he’s still 4,000 runs behind Sachin. It just shows how dominant Sachin was and how long he played. But never write off Virat—if the hunger is there, he can still achieve it,” Ponting added.
The former Australian skipper also noted that Kohli thrives in big matches, especially against Pakistan.
“In 2022 (T20 World Cup) and now, he stood up against the team he steels himself the most to play against. With Pakistan setting a tricky target, India needed a top-order player to deliver a match-winning knock, and once again, it was Kohli who got the job done. He has been a champion player for a long time, especially in the white-ball formats,” Ponting said.
He further emphasized that Kohli’s innings was the key difference between the two sides that night.
“If you look at the scorecards, it was Virat’s 100 that made the impact, while Pakistan had many starts but no one converted them into big scores. A half-century never wins you a match—big runs and strong partnerships do. Unfortunately, Pakistan didn’t have either,” Ponting pointed out.
He also highlighted that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s senior batters, were unable to deliver when it mattered the most.
“They needed to step up and make big runs, but they couldn’t in the first two games. That might cost Pakistan a spot in the semi-finals,” he concluded.