I wouldn't think about holding him back at the start of the tournament: Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli

Ricky Ponting has always been appreciative of the class acts of cricket and when we talk about class in cricket, it is needless to say that Virat Kohli comfortably bags a position in the cricketing pantheon of Gods. So does Punter for his overwhelming contributions to the sport as a batter and skipper of his national team.

When the entire world's eyes are on Kohli’s batting, Ponting believes that the approach towards the former Indian skipper should be different, ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year. He had a strategy in place for Kohli to get him back amongst runs which according to him would reap handsome dividends for India and the man himself.

Talking about how it should all begin, Ponting pointed out, “Early in the tournament(the T20 World Cup), for a first-round game, get him in nice and early, among the runs, and then hopefully by the end of the tournament you'll have Virat Kohli back at his best.”

“That's the way I would look at it. I wouldn't think about holding him back at the start of the tournament, with the thought that you might be able to bring him back towards the back end and have him peak. Tournament play isn't like that. You need to work your way into the tournament, get some runs under your belt, and get some confidence, and then be playing your best cricket at the back end," he added.

However, Punter was against moving around Virat Kohli's position constantly throughout the tournament. “They probably should be trying to find new ways to get him back into the form and help him out but that [giving him the opening spot] quite often comes at the expense of someone else as well. You are moving someone else around trying to find a spot for Virat. He has opened the batting, he's batted at No.3 in the IPL in the last couple of years and done the same for India,” he explained.

“Moving him around, to me, will make him feel that people are worried about him, and he will be more unsettled. I will be going the other way. I'll be telling him, 'This is your spot, this is where you're batting, it's not going to change. Keep believing in yourself, keep putting in the hard work, keep understanding what made you the best player in the world for a number of years. Get back to those thoughts and the runs will come’”, he concluded.