Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that there is plenty of time let for Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to find their best form despite being in the wrong side of their 30s. Kohli and Smith, recognised as two of the modern day greats, have not been at their prolific best for the last two years.
While Kohli has scored only 3 Test centuries in the last 5 years, Smith, on the other hand, did not find success after promoting himself to the opener’s spot after the retirement of David Warner. Ponting however feels that the duo can emulate Joe Root, who has struck form well into his 30s and is on course for becoming one of the greatest runscorers of all time in the Test format.
“I still think they’ve got plenty of time to find their best,” Ponting told Sydney Morning Herald in an interview. “It might be Smudge’s time actually, after that experiment up the top. He’s back down in his more comfortable spot at No.4, which I was on record saying I don’t think he should have moved, it should have been an opener who played at that stage.
“Joe Root is a great example of someone of similar age who has found a way towards the back end of his career to play better than he did for the front end of his career. These two guys are every bit as talented as Root and before the last couple of years have better records. So it’s all there for them,” Ponting added.
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Virat Kohli has prolific numbers in Australia. In fact, amongst Indians, he is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in terms of run scored Down Under. Ponting spoke about Kohli’s incredible record in Australia and said that Kohli, combined with Jasprit Bumrah, can pose a significant challenge to the Australians.
The legendary batter also opened up on the struggles on being on the wrong side of 30s. Ponting revealed that in his career, he faced a terrible slump after his 30s, and just could not fix his issues with the bat. Asked about the advice that he would give both players, Ponting said that both Smith and Kohli needed to watch the ball as closely as they can and enjoy their batting.
“It’s difficult when you feel like you’re not playing the way that you once could, and the game feels like it’s getting a little bit harder,” Ricky Ponting told SMH. “My batting went downhill the harder I tried. The harder I tried to be perfect then I was getting further and further away.
“Being in the team, but not being captain with all those young guys around me, I was trying to set an example as well and show those guys the right ways to go about it. I was fitter than ever, I was training better than ever around that time, and even when I went back to Shield cricket I made runs for fun at that level, but when I went up and was trying to do the right thing, it got harder.
“If I’d had my time again I’d have forgotten about all that stuff and just focused on watching the ball and scoring runs, and Smith and Kohli have enough good people around them to get things back on track pretty quickly. That’s the lesson I learned, and it’ll be interesting to see the mindset of Kohli and Smith this summer,” Ponting concluded on the matter.
