Ricky Ponting says he is perplexed about the treatment Virat Kohli gets in India

Former Australia captain slammed the critics who feels Virat Kohli should not be picked in India’s T20 squad. The legendary cricketer says the former India captain should be the “first pick” in India’s playing XI in the T20 team because of his class and experience.

“He (Kohli) is the first pick for me for India. So, class and experience like that, you can’t replace. 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,” the former Australian captain and Delhi Capitals head coach told ICC.

Kohli’s sublime form in the ongoing IPL has seen him leading the run-chart with 708 runs from 14 innings. Ponting says Kohli should open the innings with captain Rohit Sharma at next month’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli plays a shot during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (PTI Photo)

“They (selectors) have still got a decision to make (on the opening pair) because (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is in that squad and one thing they haven’t got a lot in their team is left-hand batters. So they’ve got a decision to make with Jaiswal (batting position), but I’m pretty sure that they’ll go with Kohli and Rohit Sharma (as openers),” said Ponting.

“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.” Kohli has scored a century, his eighth overall, this IPL season and five half-tons, a feat that has helped PCB make a dramatic turnaround to make the playoffs with six straight wins.

Ponting does feels that the strike rates might have taken precedence over averages in recent times, but Kohli’s utility to the Indian team can never be underestimated.

“The mantra I think for the teams three or four years ago, was making sure that someone at the top of the order made 80 or 100, even if it took them 60 balls, it didn’t really matter.

“I think it’s sort of shifting now to be more of a strike rate based game where you can have a massive impact on a game with a 40 off 15 balls rather than getting an 80 off 55 balls sort of thing,” added Ponting.

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