"Trying So Hard...": On Virat Kohli's Struggles, Australia Great's 'Perfect' Verdict

ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting shared his thoughts on where Virat Kohli is at in his Test career following a further downturn in his form in India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss to Australia. Once the linchpin of India's batting, Kohli suffered a tough time Down Under ending with just 190 runs at an average under 24, despite scoring an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth. Looking for potential solutions for the 36-year-old, cricketing great Ricky Ponting agreed he had much to give, despite struggles against spin at home and technical issues outside off-stump in Australia. Speaking to host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review, Ponting compared Kohli's struggles to his own towards the end of his career, where the former Australian captain averaged 39.48 in his last five years as a Test batter, down from a career average of 51.85.

"The challenge is, and I can see it with Virat now, you can see how much he wants it. He's trying so hard that actually makes batting harder. The harder you try sometimes with batting, the less success you're to have," Ponting told The ICC Review as quoted by the ICC official website.

"I started thinking more about not getting out rather than scoring runs. And that might sound strange, but that's what it was. I was trying to be so perfect, set the right example, play exactly the way my team needed me all the time," the former Australia skipper added.

Having gone through a similar experience, Ponting backed the natural style of play to come good at this stage of the career.

"But when I was playing my best, I didn't think about any of that. I just walked out and thought about scoring runs. If I got a half volley, I drove it. If I got a short ball, I pulled it. And I can just see a little bit of