'Ensure Virat Kohli doesn't score many runs..', Ricky Ponting makes a BIG statement on star India batter

Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has had a good Asia Cup 2022 so far. He was coming into the tournament after a month long break in which he did not even pick up a bat as his mental health had taken a hit. He had said that he was faking his intensity and needed a break from cricket after the India tour of England and that is why he opted out of tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has backed Kohli for taking the break, saying that he hopes he comes to Australia and makes heaps of runs. However, Ponting does not want his bat doing the talking vs the Aussies. 

"I just hope that we see him back at his best and in the World Cup," the two-time World Cup winning skipper Ponting said on the 'ICC Review'.

"I'd rather see Virat come out here (in Australia) and be one of the leading players in the tournament, but just make sure he doesn't score many runs against Australia when they play!"

Virat Kohli doing what he does the best! _

_: BCCI | #INDvHK #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/fk3H2KLrtv — KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) August 31, 2022

Ponting's comments came after India's five-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday.

Coming back after a month-long break from cricket, Kohli scored a 34-ball 35 against the arch-rivals.

"First and foremost, great to see him back among the runs," Ponting said.

"No surprised that he did it in a run chase. We've always known that about him. His record suggests he is better when his team is chasing runs.

"When I saw his runs and then I've read on social media over the last few days, it sounded like he found himself in quite a dark place. Like a lot of us men, he wasn't willing to talk about it and share it.

"It sounds like when he has started to share, started to talk, it might have just freed him up a bit and he started to feel better about himself again," the Aussie said, referring to Kohli's recent statement that he was "faking intensity" amid his struggles with the bat.

Asked if he had faced anything similar, Ponting said: "I don't think I can quite relate to the 'intensity' (comment)...

"When things aren't well and you're not scoring the runs you used to scoring, the game all of a sudden seems to be too hard.

"I sort of faced it in the last couple of years of my career where my career tapered off quite quickly... It was almost, the harder I work, the worse I got.

The former Aussie captain said that Virat did the right thing by taking time offc off cricket and giving importance to his mental health.  

"For someone like Virat, it was no good having a week off. The fact that he has taken that month off to get away, to sort of regather his thoughts, get himself back where we think he is in the right space mentally... There's lots of good signs there," Ponting concluded.