Ricky Ponting reckons that Kohli, Williamson, and Smith are in the same boat

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has commended the new-age and the modern-day captains Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith. Ponting, who led the Australian side through the so-called ‘Golden Era’ went on to state that he was happy with what he was witnessing from the three skippers at the moment in terms of career path as well as batting at the moment.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t really care (who is the best batsmen at the moment). I just love to see all these guys playing. There are a number of current players who are probably on a similar career path,” said Ponting.

Ponting also went on to heap praise on Virat Kohli. The 41-year old added that Kohli did indeed have age on his side and would go on to become a record-breaker in terms of the achievements he already boasts of thus far. “Kohli probably has got age on his side. His ODI career till this stage has been incredible. We also know what he did in last year’s IPL (973 runs at an average of 81.08 with four hundred and seven fifties).

“He is an ultra-skilled and talented player. More importantly, he has got the attitude to want to be the best he can be and wants to lead his country in the best way possible, Ponting said. “Smith and Williamson are in the same boat. Whoever I guess masters the mind games the best will be the one who ends up with the best career record.”

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“Look, I am all for adding as much context to all formats of the game as possible. The Test championship and the two division competition have been talked about for a long time and here we are now, still have not been able to come up with the right program. I think the question is more important for ODI cricket than Tests. ODI cricket is the format which is lacking the most context at the moment.

Speaking about Australia’s horrific performance in the Sri Lanka tour Test matches, Ponting said that there was indeed nothing to worry about and that it was only a one-off thing. “You have a one-off series like Sri Lanka played Australia recently. It doesn’t mean anything. Both teams want to win the series but there is nothing else riding on it. It is a great challenge (to come up with the right program for all formats),” said the 41-year-old.

Finally, Ponting went on to conclude that Harbhajan Singh was perhaps the toughest bowler that he had ever faced. Speaking to reporters during a media interaction, the attacking middle-order batsman claimed, ”My arch nemesis when I was playing against India was Harbhajan Singh. I still get nightmares about him.“

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