“Class and experience like that, you can’t replace”: Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli

New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting lauded talisman India batter Virat Kohli and said one cannot replace the class and experience the 35-year-old has.

Virat is the highest run-scorer in the history of the tournament, scoring 1,141 runs at an average of 81.50 and a strike rate of 131.30, with 14 fifties in 25 innings. His best score is 89*.

Ponting said Kohli is the first pick for him for India in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The former Aussie skipper said Kohli can play at the top and once he has the right guy with him, the 35-year-old will start scoring.

“It’s funny with Virat. I think people in India just always try to find a reason not to pick him or a reason why he’s maybe not as good as some of these other guys in the T20 game. ..He (Kohli) is the first pick for me for India. He can play his role at the top. And if you’ve got the right guys around him scoring (like) Suryakumar (Yadav)…Rohit Sharma’s going to have a high strike rate. These other guys can go in there and play their way,” Ponting was quoted by ICC as saying.

Ponting added, “I remember having this chat and some other chats I did for the ICC about there’s some talk about Virat not being in their team only last year, but what happened when the big games come around, he was one of the guys who got the job done. So class and experience like that, you can’t replace.”

India’s T20 World Cup campaign begins on 5 June against Ireland before the newly-constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York takes centre stage for the epic India vs Pakistan clash on 9 June. They will later play tournament co-hosts USA (12 June) and Canada (15 June) to wrap up their Group A matches.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.