Kohli scored a fantastic ton, his 51st in ODIs, to propel India to a six-wicket win against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he’s gone past me (in run-maker’s list) and only two (batters) ahead of him, I’m sure he would want to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game,” Ponting told ICC Review.
During the knock, Kohli went past the 14,000-run mark in ODIs, joining an elite list held by Tendulkar and former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara.
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Kohli is still 4341 runs behind Tendulkar (18426) and he has limited time to breach that mark, since the Delhi batter is already 36. However, Ponting does not see it as an impossible task for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star.
“Obviously physical-wise, he’s probably as fit as he’s ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game. It’s crazy when you think about it, isn’t it? Just how good Virat’s been over such a long period of time, yet he’s still 4,000 runs behind Sachin.
“It just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game. But with someone like Virat, you never write him off. If the hunger’s still there, then I’m never going to write him off (to overtake Tendulkar),” he added.
Ponting further remarked that playing against Pakistan brings the best out of Kohli, who has time and again starred in these encounters.
“Yeah, 2022 (T20 WC) and now, he stood up against the team that he would probably steel himself the most to play against. When Pakistan had batted first on a tricky wicket, it needed someone at the top of the order to play a match-winning innings like that.
“Once again, it was Kohli to get the job done. He’s been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly in the white-ball formats, where he’s been an unbelievably good 50-over player,” said the Aussie.
