'It was more of a staggering achievement for India than it was for us': Ponting's massive praise for Kohli's captaincy

Kohli ended his tenure in the Tests as the fourth-most successful captain, with a win percentage of 58.82 – only behind Steve Waugh, Don Bradman and Ponting himself.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on Sunday was effusive in his praise for former India captain Virat Kohli, saying that the 33-year-old's achievements as the leader of the Test team was even more "staggering" than what Australia had achieved under his captaincy.

Ricky Ponting; Virat Kohli

Kohli, who stepped down from Test captaincy earlier this month, ended his tenure in the format as the fourth-most successful captain, with a win percentage of 58.82 – only behind Steve Waugh, Don Bradman and Ponting himself.

No other Indian captain has led the side more number if times than Kohli (68), and won more matches than him (40). At home, India remained an invincible force under Kohli's captaincy, with the team losing only two out of 31 matches. Awy from home, India won 16 of 36 Tests under his leadership, implying a win percentage of 44.44, the most by any Asian captain who has led their team in at least 10 matches.

Speaking to former cricketer Isa Guha on the first episode of The ICC Review, Ponting explained that India's efforts under Kohli were more "staggering" than what the Aussies pulled off under his leadership because while India managed to win a lot of Tests under Kohli's predecessors, they continued to struggle overseas.

"It was more of a staggering achievement for India than it was for us," said Ponting. "When I took over, I took over a side that had dominated world cricket for a long time.

"If you think about India before Virat, it was about winning a lot of games at home and not winning quite as many overseas. The thing that improved the most was India winning a few more games overseas, and that's something that he and all of the Indian cricket have to be really proud of.

"The other thing is there was really was a real focus placed on Test cricket by the BCCI when Virat took over, and I think a lot of it has come from him as well – to focus more on Test cricket and winning more games home and away.

"Given his Test record as captain, he can walk away from the role very, very proud of what he has achieved."