Virat Kohli kicked aside as Ricky Ponting picks top five batters of all-time

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting picked his all-time list of top 5 Test batters in the world, which includes two Indian greats but excludes the likes of modern-day greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

From a batting point of view, whenever the greats of World cricket are asked to pick their list of promising batters, one name often makes the cut, which is that of veteran Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. Known for his equal dominance across all three formats, he is the most versatile batter among the Fab Four.

While Joe Root and Steve Smith have not had their impact on the T20I format, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have been sound players in both the longest and the shortest formats of the game. However, the former Australian has thought otherwise while excluding Virat Kohli from his list of the top 5 batters of all time.

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World Cup winner rates Top 5 batters of all-time, excludes Virat Kohli

Asked to pick his best 5 Test batters of all time in world cricket, former two-time World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting picked the likes of former West Indies legend Brian Lara, two Indian greats, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and two modern-day greats, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, from the Fab-4.

Whenever it comes to red-ball cricket, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid are two names that often cross the mind of any skipper who has played against them. However, Ponting surprised all by not including any Englishman or Australian in his list of greats.

Ponting hailed Sachin and Dravid's technique but cited Brian Lara as the most skillful batter who gave him the toughest times during his captaincy days.

"Brian Lara was the most skillful batsman I played against, and when I was captain, he gave me more sleepless nights than anybody. Sachin was technically as good as anyone I’ve seen, along with Rahul Dravid; I’d put Joe in there now as well, and Kane Williamson," said Ponting in an interview with The Times.

Ponting draws parallels between Ben Stokes and Protea Legend

After praising the specialist batters, Ponting did not have any further spots left in his 5-man tally but had reserved some special mention for former South African legendary cricketer Jacques Kallis, often regarded as the greatest all-rounder cricket has ever witnessed.

Often placed alongside the likes of great Ian Botham and Garry Sobers, Kallis has 25000+ international runs and 577 wickets in international cricket, a record unimaginable by the standards of any player till now.

However, Ponting also had some high praise for England skipper Ben Stokes, as he said the greatness of players cannot always be judged by numbers; it's about the impact on games.

"Stokes is a hard one. Numbers don’t define him. It’s been about moments with him, he’s a situation player. When things get toughest he’s been at his best. When you’re talking about the greats, you’ve got to talk about impact on games," he added.

"Joe probably wasn't a great player..." - Ricky Ponting's massive claim

The former Aussie skipper believes that, unlike Virat Kohli or any other batter in the Fab-4, Joe Root was not that great a batter in the first 100 games of his career, but later turned himself into an all-time great cricketer, especially with remarkable performances in the last half of this decade.

The 34-year-old went past Ponting to become the second-highest run-getter in the longest format of the game, while Ponting had previously also backed him to surpass the great Sachin Tendulkar's highest run tally in Test cricket.

"What he’s done the past five years is extraordinary. Look at the numbers: he’s got 13,500 runs. I rank players on how long they can stay at the top of their powers. You can be a great player for 30 to 40 games, but can you do it for 150 games?"

"Joe probably wasn’t a great player for his first 100 games — he had 17 hundreds in 97 Tests — but he’s turned into a great player. He has got 21 hundreds in his past 60 games (before the Oval Test)," said Ponting.

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