'You bluff yourself as a player that you’re not actually tired' - Ricky Ponting analyzes Virat Kohli's dip in form

The former Australian captain Ricky Ponting shared his opinion on what is really going wrong with Virat Kohli. He has stated the reason can be a tired body and the player denying it mentally, but also believes that the Indian ace will not stay down for long. BCCI has rested both Rohit Sharma and Kohli for the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. Both star batters are struggling for consistency lately and are expected to make a positive comeback after this rest, ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

It has been more than two years since Kohli scored a century in any format of the game. He also struggled in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2022 season with just 341 runs in 16 matches with an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98. He played a good knock of 73 runs against Gujarat Titans but failed to continue that momentum in the knockout matches. Many have opined different reasons for Kohli’s dip in form but Australian legend Ricky Ponting shared detailed thoughts while speaking on The ICC Review.

“It (poor form) is going to happen to everyone at some stage. Virat’s probably had a 10 or 12-year run where hasn’t had many down times. But there was a lot of talk and conjecture around the IPL about how tired and burnt out he might be. That’s for him to work out and assess and find ways to improve, whether it’s a technical thing or a mental thing.” Ponting said.

You always find a way to get yourself up for a game: Ricky Ponting cites the reason

Despite Kohli’s poor form, many believe that it’s a temporary thing and a big innings is on the way. Kohli still scored consistently in international cricket with more fifties than any Indian player since his last century in 2019. He is also the highest run-getter for India with 2478 runs with an average of 37.54 across all formats in the same time period. Ponting believes that Kohli is struggling physically but his mind is not agreeing with that. He also said that every cricketer goes through this situation and seemed confident about Kohli’s return to form soon.

“One thing I do know from experience is that quite often you bluff yourself as a player that you’re not actually tired, that you’re not physically or mentally tired. You always find a way to get yourself up for training, you always find a way to get yourself up for a game. It’s not until you actually stop and have a couple of days do you realize how tired and fatigued you are,” Ponting continued.