MELBOURNE: Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia, said he never lost hope in Virat Kohli's batting skills even while he was experiencing a protracted form slump because winners "always tend to find a way" to win.

With 220 runs in four games and a 220-run average in this year's ICC T20 World Cup, Kohli has been in outstanding form. On October 23, during India's four-wicket victory over Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he scored an incredible performance of 82 runs without being dismissed. After taking a month off from playing cricket, he returned to the team and has since returned to his old self, hitting runs like crazy and contributing significantly to nearly every bilateral series and the T20 World Cup, showing that his confidence has returned.

Ponting was cited by the ICC on Saturday as stating, "He's been a champion player of the game in all three formats for a long length of time."

"You should never write off champion players, especially in this game, is one lesson I've learned. "If you wind the clock back about a week, start of this tournament; India, Pakistan, right here at the MCG - that was what I thought might happen," said the former Australia captain, who also serves as the head coach of IPL team Delhi Capitals. "They always seem to find a way, particularly when it matters most, to dig deep enough and find a way to get a job done."

"Virat turned the tide a little bit, hit the game-winning run, and was named man of the match in what I consider to be one of the greatest sporting spectacles I've ever witnessed." In an Asia Cup game against Afghanistan in September in the UAE, Kohli snapped a 1,021-day century drought with a brilliant unbeaten 122 off 61 balls while opening for India. However, he immediately switched back to his favoured first drop position.

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