Virat Kohli will face stiff competition from his peers in global cricket and whoever out of them “masters the mind” best will end up having a better career, stated Australian great Ricky Ponting here Monday.
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Ricky Ponting appreciated the Australian team for their bounce-back ability after the visitors overcame a 3-0 Test drubbing last month to outplay Sri Lanka in ODIs.
His proposal would see global teams divided into groups depending on their ICC ranking, a change that has already been discussed regarding the Test format.
“One-day cricket is the game at the moment that is lacking the most context”, Ponting said at a promotional event in New Delhi.
The two-time World Cup winning captain also felt that ODI cricket lacked context and mentioned that bilateral ODI series hardly mean anything to the teams.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really care (who is the best batsmen at the moment). Trust me its not that gloomy and we have some very very talented players in the last two or three seasons”. “It is a great challenge (to come up with the right program for all formats)”, said the 41-year-old.
“Once again I am all for what fans and administrators think is right for the game”.
Ponting, who scored 13,378 runs in 168 Tests during his 17-year-long glittering career, also had his opinion on the growing clamour for day-night Test cricket. The Australian great also refused to add fuel to the debate of comparing Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
“If the fans are calling out for day-night Test cricket then as players and administrators we will do whatever we can to deliver that to them”. “To me that question (what they want to see) has not yet been answered by the public”, he said. “The Test match techniques of our young players are probably not where it used to be”, he pointed out. But in 2013, the pair buried the hatchet when they played the IPL together for Mumbai Indians, a team which they continue to represent during the IPL.
“My arch nemesis when I was playing against India was Harbhajan Singh”. These days the guys are not anxious about getting out.
“If you look at one series (against Sri Lanka) in isolation, yeah that is bad”.
Speaking after Australia consolidated top spot in the ODI rankings with a 4-1 series win against Sri Lanka, Ponting seemed underwhelmed by the greater meaning of the victory.
Ponting also weighed in on the future of day-night Tests, which debuted in Australia past year. “It is not all doom and gloom”.
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“We are going to play India in a Test series over here very soon”.
