Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that there is time for Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to find their best form despite being on the wrong side of their 30s as well. Kohli and Smith, recognised as two of the best batters, have not been at their best for the last two years as well. While Kohli has scored only 3 Test centuries in the last 5 years, Smith, on the other hand, did not find success while opening after the retirement of David Warner. Ponting however feels that the duo can do well.

“I still think they’ve got plenty of time to find their best,” Ponting told Sydney Morning Herald in an interview. “It might be Smudge’s time actually, after that experiment up the top. He’s back down in his more comfortable spot at No.4, which I was on record saying I don’t think he should have moved, it should have been an opener who played at that stage.

“Joe Root is a great example of someone of similar age who has found a way towards the back end of his career to play better than he did for the front end of his career. These two guys are every bit as talented as Root and before the last couple of years have better records. So it’s all there for them,” Ponting further added.

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However, Virat Kohli has great numbers in Australia. In fact, amongst Indians, he is only behind the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar in terms of runs scored Down Under. Ponting opened up on Kohli’s incredible record in Australia and said that Kohli, combined with Jasprit Bumrah, can pose a significant challenge to the Australians as well.

“It’s difficult when you feel like you’re not playing the way that you once could, and the game feels like it’s getting a little bit harder,” Ricky Ponting told SMH. “My batting went downhill the harder I tried. The harder I tried to be perfect then I was getting further and further away.

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“Being in the team, but not being captain with all those young guys around me, I was trying to set an example as well and show those guys the right ways to go about it. I was fitter than ever, I was training better than ever around that time, and even when I went back to Shield cricket I made runs for fun at that level, but when I went up and was trying to do the right thing, it got harder. If I’d had my time again I’d have forgotten about all that stuff and just focused on watching the ball and scoring runs, and Smith and Kohli have enough good people around them to get things back on track pretty quickly. That’s the lesson I learned, and it’ll be interesting to see the mindset of Kohli and Smith this summer,” Ricky Ponting concluded.