Former Australia batter Ricky Ponting has asked Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to take a note out of Virat Kohli’s book. Speaking on the ICC Review, Ponting said that the Australia batters will do well to follow Virat Kohli if they wish to come out of their form slump in this series.
Kohli scored a sensational century at the Optus Stadium in Perth despite being low on confidence. Kohli’s century in the second innings of the match came after he had been dismissed for just 5 runs by Josh Hazlewood in the first innings of the game. Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli had been criticised heavily for failing in the New Zealand Test series.
Ponting spoke about the two Australian batters who have had terrible outings in 2024. Once middle-order stalwarts, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have not even averaged 30 in 2024 and now find themselves on the brink of a first-team exit if they continue to fail.
Speaking on the ICC Review, Ponting said that Kohli trusted his backfoot in the second innings, and trusted his repertoire of shots. He urged both Smith and Labuschagne to do the same.
“Virat went back to trusting his game and he looked like a different player in the second innings than he did in the first innings. “He got away from trying to combat the opposition and focused on his strengths,” Ponting said on the ICC Review.
“That’s what Marnus and (Steve) Smith need to do – find their own way and show great intent,” he added.
“Think about scoring runs first and not think about getting out first. That’s always a challenge for a batter, especially when you’re not in great form. There’s only one way to change it and that is to be positive and show great intent,” concluded Ponting.
India are 1-0 up in the 5-match series as they look to push for their third straight Test series win Down Under. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are expected to walk back in the Test XI after staying out in the Perth game.
See insights
Boost a post
Like
Comment
Send
Share
