Ponting lauds Virat Kohli's chase masterclass against Pakistan in ...

Experienced duo Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) and Hardik Pandya (2/31) were instrumental for India in restricting Pakistan, ensuring that they couldn’t set a more daunting target.

Chasing 242, India lost early wickets, but Kohli anchored the innings with composure and precision.

Forming a crucial partnership with Shreyas Iyer (56), he guided India home with several well-timed strokes and controlled aggression.

Ponting, himself among the leading ODI run-scorers, acknowledged Kohli’s consistency and greatness. During his innings, Kohli also surpassed the 14,000-run mark in ODIs, now trailing only Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin 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.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better 50-over player than Virat Kohli. Now that he's gone past me and 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.

“As long as the hunger's there, obviously physical-wise, he’s probably as fit as he's ever been and works exceptionally hard on that side of his game.”