‘Never Seen A Better Player’ – Australian Legend Says Virat Kohli Is The Greatest ODI Player Ever

Australia’s legendary batter Ricky Ponting felt it will not be long before Virat Kohli overtakes Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara’s all-time run tally of 28,016 and has all the chance to finish his career as ODI format’s leading run-scorer of all-time.

In the recent Champions Trophy 2025 group clash against Pakistan, Kohli went past Ponting’s total of 27,483 runs across all formats to be third in the highest runscorers list in men’s cricket.

Virat Kohli overtakes Ricky Ponting among all-time runscorers

Kohli had overtaken Ponting among ODI runs and became only the third batter in history after legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Sangakkara to complete 14,000 runs in the format.

Tendulkar is the highest runscorer in ODIs with 18,426, while Sangakkara’s total of 14,234 runs is 149 away from Kohli’s.

Speaking on the ICC Review Podcast, Ponting felt that Kohli is the best 50-over player he has ever seen.

“With someone like Virat, you never write him off, because I’m sure he’d be motivated by that. Now that he’s gone past me and only two ahead of him, I’m sure he wants to give himself the best chance to be remembered as the all-time leading run scorer in the game,” Ponting said.

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“I know he’s nice and close to Sangakkara now. I don’t think it’s going to be long, maybe the next game before he goes past Sangakkara. But still, a little way to go to catch Sachin,” Ponting added.

Kohli the greatest 50-over player ever

Kohli had already overtaken Tendulkar’s 49 ODI tons record during the 2023 World Cup and is currently second on the international hundreds list with 82, having gone past Ponting’s staggering 71 centuries a while ago. But Tendulkar’s 100 hundreds is a long way to go. Having retired from T20Is, Kohli’s still proving to be a formidable player in ODIs while his Test form has hit a rocky road.

“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. 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,” Ponting said.

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