Ricky Ponting highlights talks around Virat Kohli's place in India's squad as he delivers bold verdict on batter's T20 WC final knock

Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting came up with massive praise for the India batter Virat Kohli for his innings in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 against South Africa. He said that the batter stepped up for his team when it mattered the most.

India batter Virat Kohli was at his best in the game against South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024. The batter came up with a stupendous effort with the bat when it mattered the most and made sure that he helped his team end the title drought and win the final to lift the second-ever T20 World Cup.

Coming into the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, Virat Kohli didn't have a great outing in the tournament. He failed in every game and had a lot of baggage on his back. Ahead of the final, the opening batter had just 75 runs to his name but in the big game, he turned the tables.

On a pitch, where batting seemed difficult, Virat Kohli stepped up big time for his team. He started the match aggressively as he hit three boundaries in the first over but after India lost early wickets, he realized the need to stay there on the pitch and played according to the situation.

Virat Kohli held the one end and made sure he batted deep, taking his team to a winning total on the board. He anchored the innings perfectly and this allowed others around him to bat freely without caring about the wicket and get some runs quickly under their belt.

Virat Kohli ended with a vital innings of 76 runs off 59 balls. He batted with a strike rate of around 130 and slammed 6 fours and 2 sixes in his innings. His effort with the bat powered India to a total of 176 runs on the board and won the game by 7 runs to lift their second T20 World Cup title. He also won Player of the Match for his innings.

Ricky Ponting while talking about Virat Kohli's innings recalled how there were questions over the batter's place in the team ahead of the team. He stressed that the pressure got more on Kohli following his failures but he always knew that India's batter would stand up on big occasions.

Ricky Ponting highlighted how Virat Kohli was under pressure as India lost three wickets and pointed out how he ended up playing the match-winning innings for the team. Speaking to ICC, he explained:

"There was a bit of talk around him even before the squad was picked. Whether Virat Kohli should be in this Indian squad. And then as the tournament's gone on, he hasn't made the runs he would have liked to have made. But you know, I've been asked 10 times maybe what do I think about it what do I think about his form and I just said look let him let him go when the big moments come around he'll stand up and sure enough he did today.

"And it was probably the most pressure he's been under as a player today as well considering they lost three early wickets and it was up to him to knuckle down and get the job done speaks volumes of him as being someone that can read the game understand the game but also being good enough to be able to do it, end up playing what turned out to be a match-winning knock for his team."

Yeah it wasn't easy for him - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli's innings

Ricky Ponting further highlighted how challenging it was for Virat Kohli as he had to work hard for his fifty, which was his slowest. He lauded the batter for assessing the conditions well and added:

"Yeah, it wasn't easy for him. I think the fifty that he brought up today was his slowest ever T20 international half-century. So that's how hard he had to work and then once he got to 50 he put the foot down.

"The next couple of overs and accelerated things quickly which is what his team needed him to do. So yeah. Assessing conditions, assessing situations, and playing appropriately is what he did so well and has done right through his career," he concluded.