Ricky Ponting reacts after Virat Kohli beats his record during Pakistan epic: 'Still a little way to go to catch Sachin'

With his Pakistan epic at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, Virat Kohli added another feather to his illustrious cap. Not only was his 100 not out the 51st century of his ODI career, but during the innings, Kohli also became the fastest to reach the landmark of 14000 runs. Since completing 8000 ODI runs in 2017 in 175 innings, Kohli has been the quickest to every subsequent 1000-run mark. Each time Kohli gets a big one, records galore. As a matter of fact, Kohli's match-winning knock also took him past Ricky Ponting as the third-highest run-scorer in international cricket after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara. Ricky Ponting has set the next target for Virat Kohli(Getty Images)

Kohli's knock impressed the world over, including the legendary Ponting, who congratulated the batting great on surpassing him. Kohli is now less than 700 runs away from eclipsing the former Sri Lanka T20 World-Cup winning captain, so while it's only a matter of time, he gets there, Ponting reckons beating the Master Blaster Tendulkar, who leads the pack with 34,357 runs, might take some doing.

"Yeah, I mean. Congratulations to him. I saw the result of the game; I saw that Virat obviously made a hundred. I had no idea about the other milestones along the way. He's obviously been a champion player for a long, long time, and particularly probably in the white-ball format. He's been an unbelievably good 50-over format player. I think I've said it earlier on record that I have not seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. I know he is nice and close to Sangakkara now. I don't think it's going to be long before he goes past Sangakkara. But still a little way to go to catch Sachin," Ponting said on the ICC Review Show.

"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. It just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game. But with someone like Virat, you never write him off. If the hunger's still there, then I'm never going to write him off."

With it, Kohli put an end to the criticism surrounding his form. After a lacklustre Test series in Australia, where he scored just 91 runs from nine innings, Kohli was under immense pressure. But the world knows that when it comes to ICC event, Kohli rises to the occasion like no one else. And moreover, when it's Pakistan, Kohli just has to get going.

Great players need great occasions, says Ricky Ponting

Coming in at 31/1, Kohli forged a partnership of 69 runs with Shubman Gill and then 114 more with Shreyas Iyer as the latter chipped in with a useful half-century. Despite Iyer's dismissal, Kohli held the fort and pulled off another successful chase. Call it his love affair or bunny, playing against Pakistan somehow brings the best out of Kohli, and Sunday was just another example of it.

"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. Your reputation is forged in what you do in the biggest contests on the international stage. So it's no surprise to me that that has happened," added Ponting.

"As you say, 2022 and now, he stood up against the team that he would probably steel himself the most to play against. And no bigger moment than last 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."

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