Earlier this month, Kohli stood down as India’s Check skipper a day after the nation suffered a 1-2 collection defeat towards South Africa within the three-match collection. Final yr, the 33-year-old had additionally stepped down as T20I captain after which he was eliminated because the ODI chief after the selectors wished one chief for white-ball codecs.
“Sure, it did truly (shock me). Most likely the primary purpose why is I had a chat and good catch-up with Virat in the course of the first a part of the IPL (2021) earlier than it acquired postponed. He was speaking then about stepping away (from captaincy) from white-ball cricket and the way passionate he was to proceed on to be Check match captain. He simply liked and cherished that job and that publish a lot. Clearly, the Indian Check workforce had achieved lots beneath his management. After I heard it, I used to be actually, actually stunned,” the official web site of ICC quoted Ponting as saying.
“You solely have to observe him on the sphere for an hour of the day’s play to understand how passionate he’s about that job and the position, and the way a lot he desires the workforce to win and the way a lot he desires the perfect for Indian cricket. I used to be shocked, however then I began eager about different issues, even my very own time as captain. I’ve gone on file and stated that I in all probability suppose I performed a few years longer than I ought to have in hindsight. I feel I may need been captain for a few years longer than I ought to have,” he added.
No different Indian skipper has captained India in additional Assessments (68) or gained extra matches (40) than Virat Kohli. India misplaced simply 5 of the 24 collection beneath his captaincy.
Away from dwelling, Kohli’s India gained 16 out of 36 matches, with a powerful win share of 44.44, the best for an Indian or Asian captain who has led their workforce in not less than 10 matches.
“So I feel there’s probably a shelf-life for worldwide cricket captains and even coaches. Virat’s been there for near seven years now. If there is a nation on the earth that is probably the most troublesome to captain, it is in all probability India due to simply how in style the sport is and the way a lot each single Indian likes to see the fortunes of the Indian cricket workforce, whether or not they’re good or unhealthy. You weigh all these issues up,” stated Ponting.
“It was extra of a staggering achievement for India than it was for us,” stated Ponting. “After I took over, I took over a facet that had dominated world cricket for a very long time. If you consider India earlier than Virat, it was about successful a variety of video games at dwelling and never successful fairly as many abroad. The factor that improved probably the most was India successful a number of extra video games abroad, and that is one thing that he and all the Indian cricket must be actually pleased with,” he added.
Additional speaking about Kohli, Ponting stated: “The opposite factor is there was actually was an actual focus positioned on Check cricket by the BCCI when Virat took over, and I feel a variety of it has come from him as effectively – to focus extra on Check cricket and successful extra video games dwelling and away.”
“Given his Check file as captain, he can stroll away from the position very, very pleased with what he has achieved,” he added.