Ponting’s take on Kohli

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On scoring 71 international centuries, a feat shared by Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain offered his thoughts on Kohli’s potential to equal Tendulkar’s achievement of 100 centuries. Though it has taken Kohli 1020 days after his 70th century to score his 71st, according to him, this outcome was inevitable and only a question of time. Ponting has also been a consistent supporter of Kohli, who had recently suffered an extended loss of form, and has expressed admiration at the acknowledgement extended by the Indian batsman to his family through his challenges and victories, both.

The next record for the former Indian skipper to beat is Tendulkar’s 100 centuries. According to Ponting this can be a challenge for Kohli as it would require scoring 5 to 6 centuries from Tests, and a few from ODI and T20 matches, for the next 4-5 years. Given the time that Kohli has taken to recover his form, this could be a daunting task. However, Ponting is not keen to write off Kohli’s chances, as his passion for the game, could help him surpass people’s expectations of his future performances. With the T20 World Cup set to begin soon, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Kohli should take another break, ahead of his upcoming appearances against South Africa and Australia to play three ODIs and a three match T20I series, respectively. However, this is a decision that must be taken by Kohli alone. According to Ponting, it will help Kohli if he needs more time to recover, but could cause a loss of momentum, if his performances pick up.