Virat Kohli goes up to No.5 on ICC rankings, Ricky Ponting calls him current 'best ODI player'
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting reckons Virat Kohli will give himself the "best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run-scorer" in ODIs.
With his unbeaten 100 against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, Kohli moved up to No.5 on the ICC's ODI rankings and became just the third player to breach the 14,000-run barrier in 50-over cricket. Already past Ponting in the highest run-scorers list, he is now 149 away from second-placed Kumar Sangakkara, but still 4341 behind Sachin Tendulkar who sits on top of the pile.
"With someone like Virat, you never write him off, because I'm sure he'd be motivated by that [achieving the record], I think," Ponting said on the ICC Review Podcast. "Now that he's gone past me and only two ahead of him, I'm sure he wants to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game.
"So, as long as the hunger's there, obviously, physically wise, he's probably as fit as he's ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game. So, if the hunger's still there, then I'm never going to write him off.
"I know that he is now friendly and close to Sangakkara. I don't think it's going to be long, maybe the next game before he goes past Sangakkara. But still, a little way to go to catch Sachin."
Calling Kohli the best 50-over player he has ever seen, Ponting was also amazed by the fact that Kohli is still more than 4000 runs adrift of Tendulkar's record despite being at the top of his ODI game for so long.
"Congratulations to him [Kohli]. It is evident that he has been a champion player for a very, very long time. And particularly, probably in the white-ball formats where he's been an unbelievably good 50-over player," Ponting said. "In fact, I think I'm on record before saying I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli.
"When you think about it, isn't it crazy? How good Virat has been over such a long time but is still 4,000 runs behind Sachin? I mean, it just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game. How long Sachin played for and how long you're able to maintain such high levels for as an individual player? The ability to maintain excellence has always been the one factor I use to evaluate it. Kohli's form has been under scrutiny for a while. He had a lean Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia where he averaged 23.75 with one century in nine innings. He scored 5 and 52 runs in the two one-day internationals against England, but he was run out for 22 in India's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh. Ponting wasn't surprised, though, that Kohli played his best against Pakistan. "Look, I've always said big games equal big names. You need your big names to stand up in those big moments. And no bigger game for India than a game against Pakistan. Therefore, I don't find it surprising that that has taken place," he stated. "I think it's very much the same as what we would say whenever we play England. Your reputation is forged in what you do in the biggest contests on the international stage.
"And there was no greater moment than Sunday night, when Pakistan batted first on a challenging wicket. It needed someone at the top of the order to play a match-winning innings like that. And once again, it was Kohli to get the job done."
