Ricky Ponting has shared a suggestion for Virat Kohli and Steve Smith ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Both of them have been found wanting in Test cricket, and Ponting wants the two legendary batters to focus on the basics to score runs.

Kohli and Smith will be the most-watched players in the five-Test series between India and Australia. Kohli scored just 93 runs in six innings against New Zealand, while Smith was recently sent back to the No.4 spot after failing as an opener in red-ball cricket.

Ricky spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald and urged Virat and Smith to watch the ball closely.

“If it was my time, I would have left all the stuff behind and focussed on the ball and score runs. Smith and Kohli have enough good people around them to return to form. That’s the lesson I learned during my playing days. It will be interesting to see the mindset of Kohli and Smith this summer,” Ponting said.

Ponting recalled his training during the twilight of his career. “It is difficult when you are not playing the way you used to once and things are getting difficult. I couldn’t perform the harder I tried during the last days of my career. I was fit and moving properly. I played Shield cricket, and I made runs for fun at that level, but when I returned to international cricket, the situation didn’t go right for me as I was looking for perfection,” he added.

Ponting said that Smith and Kohli should follow Joe Root’s example, who has found a way to play better towards the end of his career.

“Kohli and Smith are talented like Root and they should follow his style. He has been scoring runs at a good rate.”