"Never Seen a Better 50-Over Player": Ricky Ponting Hails Virat Kohli as the Greatest ODI Batter Over Sachin Tendulkar

Ricky Ponting, one of the greatest batters in cricket history, has played with and against many legends, including Sachin Tendulkar. But in his opinion, no one has been a better one-day player than Virat Kohli.

Ricky Ponting’s big praise for Virat Kohli came right after he smashed his 51st ODI century, leading India to a successful chase of 242 against Pakistan in a Group A match of the Champions Trophy in Dubai.

Kohli became the fastest player in ODI history to reach 14,000 runs. With this achievement, he joined the legendary club that includes Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli," Ponting told ICC Review. Now that he’s gone past me (in run-maker’s list) and only two (batters) 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."

“Obviously physical-wise, he’s probably as fit as he’s ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game. 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," he added.

Ricky Ponting said - "Virat Kohli is the Best ODI player Ever. I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-Over player than Virat Kohli". pic.twitter.com/wDcs37H0zP

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) February 25, 2025

He scored 14,085 runs so far, but he is still 4,341 runs short of Tendulkar’s record of 18,426 runs in ODI cricket.

Kohli is now 36 years old and has only a few years left in international cricket, giving him limited time to surpass Tendulkar's records.

“It just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game. 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 (to overtake Tendulkar)," Ponting said.

Kohli's century in Dubai was another brilliant performance in his long history of playing well against Pakistan, India's biggest cricket rival.

“Yeah, 2022 (T20 WC) and now, he stood up against the team that he would probably steel himself the most to play against. When Pakistan had batted first on a tricky wicket, it needed someone at the top of the order to play a match-winning innings like that," Ponting said.

“Once again, it was Kohli to get the job done. He’s 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," he added.

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