Delhi: Former Australian team captain Ricky Ponting has said about Indian batsman Virat Kohli that his role in the national team still holds great importance in T20 International cricket. The two-time World Cup-winning captain said that Kohli remains his first choice for the Indian team in the shortest format. Recently, Virat has faced criticism for his strike-rate despite being the leading run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

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Kohli has scored 708 runs in 14 matches at an average of 64.36 and a strike rate of 155.60. Ponting said that with explosive batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in the Indian team, Kohli can play his natural cricket at the top order.

49-year-old Ricky Ponting told ICC, “It is fun with Virat. I think in India people always try to find a reason not to pick him, or try to find a reason why he is perhaps not as good as some of the other players in T20. For India, he (Kohli) Is my first choice.”

He further said, “He can play his role at the top and if you have good players who are scoring (like) Suryakumar (Yadav)… then Rohit Sharma will have a good strike rate. Other players can go there and do it their own way.”

Ricky Ponting said that the format of T20 cricket has grown

Ponting said that the format of T20 cricket has changed in the last 3-4 years. He said, “I think three or four years ago the strategy for the teams was to ensure that a player in the top order scores 80 or 100 runs, even if it takes him 60 balls. It doesn't matter. I think now it has become a strike rate based game, where you can have a big impact on the game by scoring 40 runs in 15 balls instead of scoring 80 runs in 55 balls.”

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