Kohli is almost back to his absolute best, says Ponting
Virat Kohli
|| ICC ||
Virat Kohli uncertain about future Australia tours but rules out retirement
16 Mar 25
Australia legend Ricky Ponting has revealed Virat Kohli feels he ‘back to his absolute best’ and said his wicket would be the most prized by Australian players in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final.
Ponting was speaking at the official curtain raiser for the event in New Delhi on Friday (19 May) morning. The most successful men's Australian captain unveiled the Test Mace – the coveted trophy India and Australia are vying for – and then interacted with local academy kids and the media in an event organised by the ICC.
Ponting is set to head back home following Delhi Capitals' final game of IPL 2023 against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. Still, he said he “can’t wait” to get to London shortly after that in his capacity as a commentator for the WTC23 Final.
The 48-year-old looked visibly excited about the prospect of watching high-quality Test cricket at The Oval from June 7, in particular the match-ups between some of the best in the business.
One of them being India No.4 Kohli. The 34-year-old has been irresistible since he found form – he scored his sixth IPL century against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday – and Ponting believes that spells trouble for Australia.
ndia will be missing some key players for The Ultimate Test – Rishabh Pant is a long-term absentee, KL Rahul was ruled out of the Final after sustaining an injury in the IPL, and Jasprit Bumrah is continuing his rehabilitation from a back problem.
That in mind, Ponting said the Final would revolve around the contest between India’s top order and Australia’s pace attack. “I think it'll be India's top order against Australia's fast bowling, It’s a bit of a mouth-watering thought going forward.
“Generally, we think about the battles between India's spinners and Australia's batters. But will that be negated by the wicket at The Oval? Normally the wickets that I've played on The Oval have started as really good batting wickets, and actually have offered a little bit to the spinners as the game's going on.
“I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore,” said Ponting. “And I had a good chat to him about his batting and where he was at and his career. And he said to me then that he actually feels like he's almost back to his absolute best.
“You probably saw that last night, you know, he's had a very good IPL and I'm sure he'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking are looking forward to.”
That's what I'd like to see in this wicket – to have a really good contest on day four, day five, or maybe even day six, seeing how it's going.”
There’s been talk about how a significant portion of India’s WTC squad have been playing the IPL in the lead up to the Test, as opposed to just four from Australia, and how that would affect their preparations for the Test.
