"He'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking forward to" - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli ahead of WTC final

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has warned about Virat Kohli to his countrymen ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, starting on June 7th at The Oval. The Tasmanian revealed that Kohli told him about returning to his best.

The right-hander broke his three-year Test century drought by striking 186 against Australia in Ahmedabad earlier this year. He has also been in sensational form in IPL this year, evident by his sixth hundred in the tournament history, scored on Thursday.

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Speaking at the official curtain raiser for the event in Delhi, Ponting recalls meeting Kohli during an IPL game in Bangalore and how the former Indian captain revealed to be at the top of his game. The Delhi Capitals coach feels it could spell trouble for Australia.

"I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore. And I had a good chat to him about his batting and where he was at and his career. And he said to me then that he actually feels like he's almost back to his absolute best. You probably saw that last night, you know, he's had a very good IPL and I'm sure he'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking forward to."

The Delhi-born cricketer endured a forgettable outing during the previous WTC final against New Zealand. Although Kohli scored a fighting 44 in the first innings, he perished for 13 in the second as India lost by eight wickets.

Ricky Ponting dissects India's and Australia's preparation

Meanwhile, Ponting compared the two teams preparation ahead of the marquee fixture and said:

"There are two ways you can look at it. For someone like Virat – is he better off playing now and scoring runs at a consistent basis, and have confidence going into a game? Rather than being the Australian guys that have been back home, haven't been playing much cricket, will be mentally better prepared, but haven't got the runs and cricket under their belt."

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Australia finished the current WTC cycle as the top-ranked side, followed by India.