ENG VS IND: “He will work it out pretty quickly”, Ricky Ponting on Kohli’s poor form

ENG VS IND: In the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ricky Ponting has backed Virat Kohli to end his rough patch “pretty quickly”. Kohli’s batting returns have taken a serious hit for quite some now. Add the captaincy saga to his poor run of form with the bat, and it has been a disappointing passage of time for Virat.

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The RCB batter averaged 22.73 with a strike rate of just 115.99 in the recently concluded IPL 2022. Kohli registered as many as 9 scores of 12 or less, including 7 single-digit scores in the tournament in 16 innings. He was pretty inconsistent and failed to make an impact barring three-four knocks throughout the tournament.

ENG VS IND: “I’m pretty sure Virat won’t stay down for too long,” says Ricky Ponting

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When asked about Kohli’s poor form, the former Australian captain said that such rough patches are bound to happen with players having a long career. He further added,

Speaking out of his experience, Ponting also advised to not “bluff” himself that he isn’t actually tired. There have been talks of Kohli needing a break, notably from India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri. In an interview with Star Sports during the IPL, Kohli acknowledged Shastri’s comments and spoke that he is open to taking a break when he needs it.

Ponting believes that the former Indian captain should assess it himself and find out the technical or mental aspects that are affecting his game.

Some pundits have also questioned Kohli’s spot in India’s T20 XI owning to his slow scoring rate. However, more than the intent to score boundaries, fluency and a sense of calmness or stability have been missing in Kohli’s batting these days, as particularly visible in this IPL.

What’s next?

Meanwhile, Kohli has been rested from the ongoing T20I series between India and South Africa. Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, R. Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, the other important players of India’s Test side, have also been rested ahead of the one-off Test to be played against England in July.

Kohli produced middling returns in the first four Tests of the series as he averaged 31.14. While Kohli notched up four scores of 42 or more, including two half-centuries, in 7 innings, he failed to convert these scores into a big knock.

Kohli hasn’t been performing well in the longest format as well for a while now. The right-handed batter is averaging just 28.03 with only six 50+ scores, without any century, in 30 Test innings since 2020. It will be interesting to see how Kohli fights with his poor form on this tour. Find the live Cricket Predictions and updates for the upcoming matches around the globe.