…it has been an absolute nightmare’: Ricky Ponting’s interesting verdict on Virat Kohli’s struggle in Test cricket

Virat Kohli has been a great ambassador of Test cricket. It is the format he loves the most. Yet it is format where the former India skipper is presently struggling.

It has been over three years since Kohli last scored a century and about 15 Test innings since he last scored a fifty. Questions are being raised on his form as Kohli managed only 111 runs in five innings in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Test series. Legends like Matthew Hayden and Mark Waugh have given their verdict on Kohli’s century drought in the format, but their compatriot Ricky Ponting had a rather interesting take on the matter.

Ponting has been one of the ardent supporters of Kohli even through his struggle over the last few years when the India star failed to reach the triple-figure mark across formats. “Champion players always find a way” – Ponting had repeatedly said in previous interviews and Kohli did find a way to return.

The 33-year-old has ended his long wait to an incredible and maiden ton in the T20I format in the Asia Cup last year before scoring two ODI centuries. And while he was backed to continue his form in Test cricket as well, Kohli failed to emulate it. But Ponting remains unfazed amid the clutter of outside noise.

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Speaking on the ICC Review, Ponting explained how difficult it has been for batters to play in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series with the turn and bounce the pitches have offered and hence refrained from making a comment on Kohli’s form in the contest.

“I am not looking at anybody’s form in the series because for batters it has been an absolute nightmare. Australia have done a remarkable job by turning around those first two Test matches and coming back to win the third. We all know batting has been so incredibly difficult. And it has not been because of the turn, but also the uneven bounce which makes you lose trust in the wicket and if that happens you are guessing all the time which makes batting really difficult,” he said.

The former Aussie skipper however backed India’s modern-era great to bounce back in red-ball cricket.

“For Kohli, I have said that over and over, champion players always find a way. He might be in a bit of a drought at the moment, might be not scoring runs which we all expect him to score but he is a realist as well. When you are a batsman and your are struggling and not scoring runs, you are pretty aware of that yourself. I am not concerned about this because I am confident he will bounce back.”