Virat Kohli shedding a tear after winning IPL win tells how much it means to players: Ponting

Ahmedabad,: An emotional Virat Kohli dropping to his knees in tears showed how much he yearned for the IPL title over the last 18 years and how much winning the tournament means to players, concluded Punjab Kings' head coach Ricky Ponting.

Kohli got emotional towards the end of the IPL final here on Tuesday in which his team Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings by six runs to lift their first ever trophy since the tournament's inaugural edition in 2008.

"You can see in his eyes in that last over, he was shedding a tear, that's what it means to players, that's what it means to everyone,' Ponting told the media after the final.

"Chennai (Super Kings) have won it a few times, Mumbai (Indians) have won it a few times, but it's not an easy tournament to win — it is as simple as that — and you have to think long and hard about that. It's not easy to win this thing," he added.

Citing his own example, Ponting said he could relate to what Kohli meant when he said winning the IPL was still five levels under playing Test cricket.

Kohli made a passionate appeal to the young cricketers, asking them to treat the conventional format with respect.

"You know, this moment is right up there with the best moments I have had in my career. But it still marks five levels under Test cricket," Kohli told the broadcaster after the match.

"I would just urge the youngsters coming through, to treat that format with respect. Because if you perform in Test cricket, you walk around anywhere in the world, people look you in the eye and shake your hand and say, 'well done, you played the game really well'." "If you want to earn respect in world cricket all over, take up Test cricket, give your heart and soul to it," he added.

One of the greats of the game himself, Ponting agreed with Kohli's sentiments about cricket's traditional format.

"Yeah, I understand that. I'm probably one of the biggest purists of the game still involved, whether I'm coaching or commentating, my first love is Test match cricket, always will be.

"I was lucky enough to play some World Cups and things like that, but now that I can't play anymore, this is as close as I can get to being able to play a Test match again." "But I totally understand what he means, you know, he had a magnificent Test match career and an even better white-ball career that's obviously still going," Ponting said.

'Iyer has grown as person, player and leader'

Shreyas Iyer's leadership credentials can be gauged by his record of being the only captain to take three different teams to IPL finals but this season the Indian batter has grown as a person, player and leader, Ponting said.

Iyer led from the front, scoring 604 runs in 17 matches at 50.33 with six half-centuries and at strike rate of 175.

"Shreyas has been a huge part of the season, there's no doubt about that. He has grown as a person, he has grown as a player, he has grown as a leader," Ponting said.

Ponting said Iyer's determination, even before the IPL began, was strong enough to make a difference for Punjab, adding that those were the reasons he thought the 30-year-old would be picked in the Indian team for their five-Test tour of England.

"I thought he would get picked in that Test team, but they've decided to go another way," he said.

"You can tell with certain people. You can see by the look in their eye how determined they are and he was very determined at the start of this season, before that Test selection was even made.

"He was determined, like me, to come to a new team and a new franchise and make an immediate difference to the set-up and he has done that.

"He's the only captain now to take three different franchises to three IPL finals, so that probably says enough about him as a leader," Ponting added.