Kohli can be all-time leading run scorer in ODIs: Ponting

Kohli's unbeaten century against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday propelled him to No. 5 in the ICC ODI rankings and made him only the third player to surpass 14,000 runs in 50-over cricket. Having already overtaken Ponting on the all-time run charts, Kohli is now just 149 runs away from second-placed Kumar Sangakkara. However, he remains 4,341 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar, who tops the list.

"With someone like Virat, you never write him off, because I'm sure he'd be motivated by that [achieving the record], I think," Ponting said on the ICC Review Podcast, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"Now that he's gone past me and only two ahead of him, I'm sure he wants to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game," he added.

"So, as long as the hunger's there, obviously, physically wise, he's probably as fit as he's ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game. So, if the hunger's still there, then I'm never going to write him off," he said.

"I know he's nice and close to Sangakkara now. I don't think it's going to be long, maybe the next game before he goes past Sangakkara. But still, a little way to go to catch Sachin," he noted.

Hailing Kohli as the best ODI batsman he has ever seen, Ponting expressed his amazement at the gap between Kohli and Tendulkar's record, especially given how long the Indian batter has dominated the format.

"Congratulations to him [Kohli]. He's obviously been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly, probably in the white-ball formats where he's been an unbelievably good 50-over player," Ponting said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"In fact, I think I'm on record before saying I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli," he said.

"It's crazy when you think about it, isn't it? Just how good Virat's been over such a long period of time, yet he's still 4,000 runs behind Sachin. I mean, it just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game. How long Sachin played for and how long you're able to maintain such high levels for as an individual player? And that's the one thing I've always judged excellence on, is how long you can maintain it for," he noted.

Kohli's form has been a talking point recently. He endured a challenging Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, averaging 23.75 with just one century in nine innings. His performances in the two ODIs against England were also underwhelming, scoring 5 and 52, while he managed 22 in India's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh. However, Ponting wasn't surprised to see Kohli deliver on the big stage against Pakistan.

"Look, I've always said big games equal big names. You need your big names to stand up in those big moments. And no bigger game for India than a game against Pakistan. So, it's no surprise to me that that has happened," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"I think it's very much the same as what we would say whenever we play England. Your reputation is forged in what you do in the biggest contests on the international stage," he said.

"And no bigger moment than Sunday night when Pakistan had batted first on a tricky wicket. It needed someone at the top of the order to play a match-winning innings like that. And once again, it was Kohli to get the job done," he noted. (ANI)