Ricky Ponting reacts to Virat Kohli stepping down as India Test captain
Former Australian captain and batter Ricky Ponting spoke on his take on Virat Kohli's step down from test captaincy, his record as the test captain and the possible replacement for him.
The talk around Virat Kohi’s unexpected step down as Indian Test cricket captain doesn't seem to die down. The decision initiated a lot of whispers on the scuffle between BCCI and Kohli.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022
Now, former Australian captain and batter Ricky Ponting has said that he was shocked when he came to know about Virat stepping down as the Indian Test captain.
Speaking on the first episode of The ICC Review, with former cricketer Isa Guha, Ponting said that Virat did speak to him during last year’s IPL, before the tournament got postponed, that he was planning to step down as captain of white-ball cricket but continue as the captain of the Test team. The sudden decision of him quitting the captaincy did surprise the Australian cricketer, he said.
“The Indian test team had achieved so much under his leadership. When I heard for the first time, I was really surprised. I was almost shocked,” Ricky Ponting said.
He spoke about Virat Kohli as the batter, how the Indian team prospered under him, the flip side of being an international captain and if Rohit Sharma can suitably replace Virat as the next captain.
Here is a five-point round-up on what Ricky Ponting said on Virat Kohli:
1. OVERSEAS WINS UNDER VIRAT
Ricky Ponting applauded Virat Kohli for upscaling the overseas win record of the Indian team. Ponting felt that this wouldn't have been possible without Kohli’s leadership.
“Ever since he was the captain, they probably elevated themselves to positions in world rankings, which might have not been possible without him,” he said. Ponting said that a lot of it has to do with what Virat brought to the team as a captain.
2. TEST RECORD OF THE TEAM
Speaking on his Test record of 48 wins in 68 matches compared to Kohli’s 40, he said that India’s record run under Kohli’s captaincy in Test cricket is a much bigger, staggering achievement than his. Ponting said that when he became the Australian team captain, he had a team that had been dominating world cricket.
“But if you think about India before Virat, it was winning a lot of games at home and not winning as much overseas, and I think that improved under Virat. This is something the whole team should be proud of. There was also a lot of focus put in by BCCI on Test cricket, and a lot of that came from Kohli,” he said.
3. SHELF LIFE OF AN INTERNATIONAL CAPTAIN
Ponting acknowledged that it must have been difficult for Virat Kohli to break this decision to his family and fans at the young age of 33, but then, the former Australian cricketer also said that there is a shelf life of international cricket captains, and even coaches. He added that if it is a team that's difficult to captain, that’s India; because of how popular the game is and how every Indian cricket fan loves to see it.
Pointing to this own tenure as the captain of the Australian cricket team, for the first time on record, Ricky Ponting said that he could have continued as a captain for a couple of years more. But then, he had to step down when Australia lost the quarter finals to India in 2011 World Cup in India.
3. ONE CAPTAIN FOR ALL FORMATS
A lot of questions have been asked on if there should be different captains for different cricket formats, or if one player can be enough to lead the team. Ponting said that he would prefer one captain to lead the team in all three; provided that player gets to play in all the three formats.
"In an ideal world, every team would want the same voice, some leader in each format. But whether it will be possible for the other player to play each game; that’s another challenge," he said.
4. ROHIT SHARMA CAN LEAD THE TEAM
Ponting also weighed in on Rohit Sharma replacing Virat Kohli as Test cricket captain because he thinks Sharma has had a very good Test cricket run in the recent past. His backing of Rohit also comes from his experience with the player while he was the coach of the IPL team Mumbai Indians. Ponting was purchased in auctions to lead the Mumbai team in the IPL, but after a few games of dismal performance, the Australian cricketer had to step down.
He said the management had asked him about his replacement, and he had taken the name of Rohit Sharma. He even appreciated Ajinkya Rahane for his Test cricket skills and called him a possible leader for the team in future.
5. WAS COMMUNICATION AN ISSUE?
Rickey Ponting opened up on the leadership role of a captain and how communication was a vital part of leadership. Asked if he at any point, from the outside, felt that a communication gap between Virat and BCCI was a reason for his departure as captain, Ponting said he didn’t know what went behind the scenes.
He said it’s one thing to judge a captain from a commentary box or watching a game on television, but so much of captaincy goes on behind the scenes. "So I can’t judge that,” Ponting said.
Virat Kohli stepped down as India Test captain on January 15 this year.