Ricky Ponting Settles the Virat Kohli vs. Sachin Tendulkar Debate in ODI Cricket with a Straightforward Verdict

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting stated that he has never seen a “better player” than Virat Kohli in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and expressed confidence that the Indian batting star will surpass the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run-scorer in the 50-over format. Kohli’s exceptional unbeaten century, his 51st in ODIs, guided India to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match 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 the run-scoring list) and only two batters are 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 his century, Kohli surpassed the 14,000-run mark in ODIs, joining former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara and Tendulkar in an elite club.

Kohli (14,085 runs) is still 4,341 runs behind Tendulkar (18,426), and at 36, the champion batsman has limited time to surpass Tendulkar’s record.

However, Ponting believes it is not an impossible task for Kohli.

“Obviously, physically, he’s probably as fit as he’s ever been and works exceptionally hard on that aspect of his game. It’s crazy when you think about it, isn’t it? Just how good Virat has 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 is still there, then I’m never going to write him off (to overtake Tendulkar),” he added.

Ponting noted that matches against Pakistan often bring out the best in Kohli, calling him a big-match player.

“Yeah, in 2022 (T20 World Cup) and now, he stood up against the team he would probably prepare himself the most to face. When Pakistan batted first on a tricky wicket, it required someone at the top of the order to play a match-winning innings like that.

“Once again, it was Kohli who got the job done. He’s been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly in the white-ball formats, he has been an unbelievably good 50-over player,” said the Australian legend.

Ponting emphasized that Kohli’s century was the key difference between India and Pakistan that night.

“If you look at the two scorecards, it’s clear: Virat made a century, while Pakistan had several starts but no one went on to make a big score.

“I’ve always said, in any format of the game, a fifty never wins you or your team anything. You have to score big runs. And so, the individual big scores weren’t there, and the big partnerships weren’t there either,” Ponting noted.

The Tasmanian observed that senior Pakistani batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan did not perform as expected.

“They haven’t been able to deliver their best for their team. Those two guys had to step up,” Ponting said.

“They needed to make big runs, but they haven’t been able to do it in the first couple of games, and that might be the reason why Pakistan don’t make it through to the semi-finals.”

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