Champions Trophy 2025: Virat Kohli is 'unbelievably good 50-over player', says Aussie great Ricky Ponting

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Champions Trophy 2025: Virat Kohli continues to cement his legacy as one of the greatest One Day International (ODI) batsmen of all time, with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting calling him the best 50-over player he has ever seen.

Speaking on The ICC Review, Ponting lauded Kohli's remarkable consistency and longevity in the format, backing him to break Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing ODI run-scoring record.

Kohli's recent century against Pakistan at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai saw him surpass the 14,000-run mark in ODIs, moving ahead of Ponting, who finished his career with 13,704 runs. With 14,085 runs to his name, Kohli now trails only Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) and India's iconic Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) in the all-time ODI run charts.

Ponting, who himself dominated the 50-over format during his career, believes Kohli's unparalleled fitness and hunger for runs make him a genuine contender to surpass Tendulkar.

"He's obviously been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly in the white-ball formats, where he's been an unbelievably good 50-over player," Ponting said on The ICC Review. "I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he's gone past me and with only two ahead of him, I'm sure he would want to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game."

Despite Kohli needing more than 4,000 runs to overtake Tendulkar, Ponting remains optimistic about his chances. "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," he remarked. "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."

Kohli's latest century against Pakistan was yet another display of his brilliance under pressure. His unbeaten 100 off 111 balls guided India to a six-wicket victory, ensuring their dominance in the tournament. With the Indian bowling attack, led by Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) and Hardik Pandya (2/31), restricting Pakistan to 241, Kohli anchored the chase to perfection alongside Shreyas Iyer (56).

As Kohli continues to defy the odds and set new benchmarks, the cricketing world watches closely to see if he can surpass the ultimate ODI milestone set by Tendulkar.