Ricky Ponting comes up with a big statement while comparing Virat Kohli and Shaheen Afridi

Former Australian skipper and legendary batter of his time Ricky Ponting has come up with a comparison between former Indian skipper and senior batter, Virat Kohli and ace Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi. In his recent statement, Ponting happened to compare Shaheen’s come-back against Bangladesh with Virat Kohli's performance in the ongoing edition of the marquee tournament.

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Talking about Afridi, Ponting mentioned the tough that Afridi had gone through during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka while the latter was struggling with his form. The two-time World Cup-winning captain also said that the Pakistan pacer had also gone through a slow recovery and rehabilitation process.

"He might say that he's not back to 100 percent just yet, but from what I've seen it looks like he's going along beautifully, and he now holds the key for Pakistan progressing in the tournament," said Ponting in ICC

Notably, the 22-year-old pace sustained a knee injury during an attempted field when Pakistan was playing the first of the two-match Test Serie against Sri Lanka in Galle earlier in the month of July. Later on, he also failed to scalp a single wicket against India and Zimbabwe in the first two Pakistan during the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022. But still, Punter showed his faith in the Premier Pakistan speedster.

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"(I never had any doubt) as you just know what he's capable of when he's out there on the field," Ponting said. "And as I said, even if he's not at 100 percent, if he's operating at 90 percent, he's still going to have more of an impact on games than most because of how good he is. So look,  he might have had a few worries in the back of his own mind and the Pakistan hierarchy and coaching group might have had a few worries in their mind, but not anymore. He's got through really well so far and hopefully for them two more games to go," he added later.

Here's what Ponting said while comparing Shaheen Afridi with Virat Kohli

While summing up his statement, the former Aussie legend compared Shaheen’s scenario to that of the senior Indian batter Virat Kohli.

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"It's almost a bit like the India scenario with Virat (Kohli) coming into this tournament," Ponting noted. "Sometimes you just have to stick with them and pick them and let them go because champion players will find a way to get the job done."And as the tournament's gone on he (Afridi) has got better and better and hopefully the best is still to come," concluded Ponting.