'Ricky Ponting Advises Babar Azam to Take a Cue from Virat Kohli for a Fresh Start'

New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been facing a dip in form and was recently excluded from the Test squad. In the midst of various suggestions coming his way, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has come forward with a valuable piece of advice: he suggests that Babar should contemplate taking a break from cricket. Ponting cited the example of former India captain Virat Kohli, stating how a short break could potentially assist Babar in rediscovering his top form.

“The biggest challenge is how they get Babar back into their side. They’ve got to find a way to get Babar back into form and back into their [Test] team,” Ponting said in the ICC Review.

“You know, when you look at (Babar’s) numbers, it’s been a bit like the stuff that we were talking about with Virat [Kohli] earlier on. Sometimes – and I think Virat was on record saying this – that little bit of a break that he had, he took himself away from the game for a while to freshen up and sort out some things that he needed to sort out,” the former Australian skipper added.

Like Babar Azam, Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli faced intense criticism during a rough patch in his career. Ahead of the 2022 Asia Cup, Kohli took a month-long break, which proved to be a turning point. Upon his return, he ended a 1000-day century drought, marking a remarkable resurgence.

Kohli later reflected on the period, sharing, “I was experiencing that I’m not excited to train; I wasn’t excited to practice, and that really disturbed me because this is not who I am.”

With his extensive experience playing on Australian pitches, Kohli is expected to be India’s key player when they face the hosts in the upcoming five-match Test series.