Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is in awe of Virat Kohli as he continues to impress for Team India in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025. The veteran Indian batter scored his 51st ODI hundred on Sunday (Feb 23) as the Men in Blue beat Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025. According to Ponting, Virat is the best 50-over player he has seen after smashing multiple records.

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Ponting in awe of Virat

"Congratulations to him [Kohli]. He's obviously been a champion player for a long, long time. And particularly, probably in the white-ball formats where he's been an unbelievably good 50-over player," Ponting said while speaking to the ICC Review Podcast. "In fact, I think I'm on record before saying I don't think I've ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli.

"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. I mean, it just goes to show how good Sachin was, but also his longevity in the game,” added Ponting.

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On Sunday Virat scored his 82nd international ton while also completing 14,000 runs in the ODI format. In ODIs, he already holds the record for most hundreds and is only behind Sachin Tendulkar for most tons at the international level. With at least two matches to go in the Champions Trophy 2025, he is set to become the second-highest ODI run scorer with currently Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara sitting ahead of him.

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Virat needs 150 runs to become the second-highest run scorer in ODIs and will be determined to achieve the feat in the Champions Trophy 2025.

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The former India skipper will be next in action on Sunday as the Men in Blue take on New Zealand in the final group game. A win for India will see them top the group having already booked their place in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy 2025.