Virat Kohli’s form, Rishabh Pant’s omission, Rohit Sharma’s leadership… this is what former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said about India’s chances at the T20 World Cup. 🏏 🗣️
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00:00You know, India probably haven't been at their best yet.
00:02Virat's been very, very good in a couple of games.
00:04Now the leading run scorer in the history of T20 World Cup cricket.
00:08India are a bit like Australia coming in.
00:09It didn't seem like they really knew what their best team was.
00:11One thing I know about Rishabh Pant, he's a match winner.
00:14And we've seen it here in Australia before.
00:16Ricky, you spoke about Virat Kohli's inning sevens, Pakistan, just before the World Cup.
00:34In fact, for the last one and a half year, there was criticism, especially in India about Virat.
00:39Yeah, look, I've been on record for the last few months, you know,
00:41talking about how important I felt it was that India did stick with Virat.
00:45Coming into a big tournament like this, when you come into big events like this,
00:49you need your experienced star players.
00:52They're playing well and standing up in big moments if you're going to win.
00:54First hand with the first game against Pakistan, you know, I doubt if there was another player
00:58in that side that could have got them over the line at the end.
01:00You know, the T20 game, I think, is a game for the older, smarter sort of minds.
01:06The people that have been there and done it all before and experienced it all before.
01:09And probably no one in Indian cricket has experienced more success than Virat Kohli.
01:14You know, as slim as the chances were the other night, you know, as I said,
01:16I was sitting at home on the couch watching with eight balls to go with him on strike.
01:20I still had this feeling that he was just going to pull something out of the hat.
01:23And he did.
01:24And quite often, you know, a little moment like that can have a really big impact on a team
01:28right the way through the tournament.
01:30You know, India probably haven't been at their best yet.
01:32Virat's been very, very good in a couple of games.
01:35Now the leading run scorer in the history of T20 World Cup cricket.
01:38And I think if India are to go on and progress and actually win,
01:41they need Virat there and they need him playing well.
01:47Yeah, I'm surprised he's not playing.
01:49Because one, I think he's a match winner.
01:51And two, he's that, as you said, that left-hander that they might need at
01:53different times through their middle order.
01:55But, you know, reading some of the quotes from Akshay Patel the other day,
01:58they're backing his batting in.
01:59If they need a left-hander in the middle,
02:00they're going to use him to go up and play that sort of role.
02:05And obviously playing the two spinners means it's hard for Rishabh to get into the side.
02:08But, you know, I don't think India are a bit like Australia coming in.
02:13It didn't seem like they really knew what their best team was
02:14and what the right balance was coming here.
02:16Maybe that was because of the conditions.
02:17They weren't sure what they're going to get.
02:18But one thing I know about Rishabh Pant, he's a match winner.
02:23And we've seen it here in Australia before in test cricket and in white ball cricket.
02:27But who knows, if they do make it through,
02:29they might think about playing someone like him in one of the bigger games at the back end.
02:32How do you reckon Roy Sharma's batting form and his leadership in this team?
02:36The thing I always say, same thing I said about Virat,
02:39is you never write champion players off.
02:40Roy Sharma's been a champion player for India for a long time.
02:44And when the bigger games come around, generally the bigger players stand up.
02:47So I'll never say a negative word about him.
02:50I've coached him, I've worked with him a lot and I'm quite good friends with him.
02:54And for his sake and India's sake, I'd love to see him do well in the back half.