Ricky Ponting's Bold Analysis of Virat Kohli's Test Struggles: 'The Harder You Try...'

Virat Kohli had a tough tour of Australia, scoring just 190 runs in five Tests despite starting the series with a century in Perth. Throughout the series, Kohli consistently fell victim to wide deliveries, getting dismissed in the same manner on all eight occasions. This led to a disappointing average of 24 for the star right-handed batter. Kohli's struggles with the bat were a significant factor in India losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after holding onto it for a decade.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that Kohli still has much to offer to Indian cricket. He also compared Kohli's struggles to his own towards the end of his career.

It is important to state that Ponting averaged 39.48 in his last five years as a Test batter, significantly lower than his career average of 51.85.

“The challenge is, and I can see it with Virat now, you can see how much he wants it. He's trying so hard that actually makes batting harder. The harder you try sometimes with batting, the less success you're to have," Ponting told ICC Review.

“I started thinking more about not getting out rather than scoring runs. And that might sound strange, but that's what it was. I was trying to be so perfect, set the right example, play exactly the way my team needed me all the time," he added.

'There's some mental block'

Virat Kohli has managed just three centuries in Tests in the last five years. However, the batter has struggled, especially against the deliveries bowled well outside the off-stump.

Ponting believes there is a mental block when it comes to Kohli. However, the World Cup-winning captain reckons the 36-year-old has a lot to offer to the Indian dressing room.

“But when I was playing my best, I didn't think about any of that. I just walked out and thought about scoring runs. If I got a half volley, I drove it. If I got a short ball, I pulled it. And I can just see a little bit of that with Virat now, where even the way that he's getting out, you can see he doesn't want to be playing at those balls," said Ponting.

“He's trying not to do it, but there's some mental block there that's making him feel for that one outside the off-stump," he added.

Speaking further, Ponting said, "I did play for maybe two years longer than I should have. But that wasn't anything to do with me. I continued to play on to try and help the younger group of players coming through, sort of integrate into international cricket and almost be like a coach and a senior figure around the team to help them through because Mike Hussey was retiring as well."

“And [I thought] we're going to be left with not a lot of experienced guys, but guys like Smith, Warner, Lyon had all these young guys coming in at once," he added.

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