The final of the Test Championship, 2021-23 Cycle is all set to set take place at the Kennington Oval, England from 7-11 June. Both Australia and India are preparing hard. However, after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) failed to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs, Virat Kohli already reached there.
He had a good tournament with two centuries that also came in two consecutive games. Kohli finished in the fourth position in the race for the Orange Cap with 639 runs in 14 games. So, ahead of this clash, the former Aussie skipper came up with a warning for Australia over the former Team India skipper.
“He told me that the feeling he's getting right now is that he's almost back to his best” - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli
While talking in the review show by the Apex Council of Cricket, Ponting said that Australia would look to get the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli as early as possible. Against the Aussies, Pujara has scored 2033 runs in 24 matches, including five centuries. While, Kohli has smashed 1979 runs in 24 matches, including a massive 186-run inning in the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy that happened before the IPL in India.
Ponting said: “The Australian team will be talking about Virat, no doubt about it, and they'll be talking about Pujara. They're the two. Pujara has been a thorn in their side a lot in the past, and in Australia, and this wicket will potentially be a lot more like an Australian pitch. They know that they'll have to get him early."
During one of the games in the IPL, Ponting had a chat with the former RCB skipper and while revealing that, he said: “They also know that Virat over the last few weeks is probably just about back to his absolute best, albeit in T20 cricket. He told me that the feeling he's getting right now is that he's almost back to his best, and that's an ominous warning for the Australians going into a one-off game.”
Here is how fans have reacted:
Har din Ponting ka hi interview he chalta rhta h kya??
— Aditya VK (@King_Kohli34) June 1, 2023
Mind games started by australia
— GOAT RO45HIT (@sachinq518) June 1, 2023
Goat recognises Goat 🐐🐐
— Cricket Crazy (@CrazyinCricket) June 1, 2023
Wo tareefe karke goomrah karne ki koshish karega par tum apni last 3 yrs ki performance dekhte rehna
— Dhoni Popa (@DhoniPopa) June 1, 2023
Bhai yeh Ricky ponting kitna bol raha hai. Kon puch Raha hai isko saval
— Certain someone (@certainsome_one) June 1, 2023
Australia don't need to worry. Rahane is there to run him out when he is playing well. @ajinkyarahane88
— AKS (@aksdotnet) June 1, 2023
36 allout loading for India😂😂😂
— Charan (@Venkysam14) June 1, 2023
ye ponting jinx kar rha😭🤬
— SINGH (@kyadekhrahe) June 1, 2023
Panoti lga rha hai😐
— Kuldeep Goswami (@kuldeep__twt) June 1, 2023