"I think people in India just always try to find a reason not to pick him" - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli ahead of T20 World Cup 2024
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said Virat Kohli is his first pick for Team India in T20Is and that he doesn't understand why the Indian batting icon's place is questioned despite having extraordinary numbers in the shortest format.
Kohli is the highest run-getter in T20 World Cup history, having accumulated 1141 runs in 27 matches at 81.50, with 14 half-centuries. He overtook Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene in the 2022 edition. The 35-year-old also ended up as the highest run-getter in three T20 World Cup editions and has received two Player of the Tournament awards.
Speaking on an episode of the ICC Review ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Ponting said Virat Kohli should stick to his natural game, which will allow others to bat freely around him.
"It's funny with Virat. I think people in India just always try to find a reason not to pick him or a reason why he's maybe not as good as some of these other guys in the T20 game. He (Kohli) is the first pick for me for India," Ponting said.
"He can play his role at the top. And if you've got the right guys around him scoring (like) Suryakumar (Yadav)... Rohit Sharma's going to have a high strike rate, these other guys can go in there and play their way," he added.
The former Indian captain has been in supreme form in IPL 2024 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), amassing over 700 runs with a solitary hundred.
"Virat Kohli was one of the guys who got the job done" - Ricky Ponting
Ponting also reiterated that there have been multiple occasions when Virat Kohli stood up and got the job done while others failed. The 49-year-old elaborated:
"I remember having this chat and some other chats I did for the ICC about there's some talk about Virat not being in their team only last year, but what happened when the big games come around, he was one of the guys who got the job done. So class and experience like that, you can't replace."
The Men in Blue will open their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York.