Australian legend Ricky Ponting paid his heartfelt tribute to Virat Kohli, who announced his retirement from the traditional format last month.

Kohli’s decision to quit Test cricket came ahead of the England tour. He was expected to travel to UK for the upcoming five-Test series that will mark the beginning of India’s new WTC cycle. It was also reported that the board is in talks with the stalwart to make him change his mind, but the outcome was unsuccessful.

On May 12, Kohli took to social media and stated that the decision to give up the format he loved most was "not easy, but it feels right".

Speaking on the latest episode of ICC Review, Ponting hailed Kohli as one of India's greatest Test players, highlighting his impact on Indian cricket despite recent slump in performance.

“Well, he’s got to be right up there as far as the all-time greats are concerned. I’m not sure if the question’s about Indian players only, but if it is, then he’s right at the top there," Ponting said.

“And I guess if you look back, if you’re comparing him to the all-time great Test players, the last couple of years, his numbers have probably dropped off a little bit," he added.

“He averaged well over 50 for a lot of his career. Then the last three or four years, those numbers have dropped down to, I don’t know what it is now, 46 or 47 Test average, I think 30 Test hundreds," Ponting continued.

Virat Kohli, who made his Test debut in 2011, played an instrumental role in India's red-ball resurgence over the past decade with his aggressive captaincy, prolific batting and unmatched intensity on the field.

Under his captaincy, India were competitive everywhere and registered their maiden Test series triumph on Australian soil in 2018-19.

Overall, Kohli led his country in 68 Test matches and suffered defeat in only 17 of them. With 40 wins and 11 draws, he boasts a remarkable win percentage of 58.82, making him the most successful Test captain in India's history.

The 36-year-old finished his Test career with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties, with the highest score of 254.

Ponting also acknowledged that Indian cricketers deal with an immense amount of pressure, way more than Australians or Englishmen, and the way Kohli handled it adds to his greatness.

“The one thing that we probably don’t understand from Australia or England or most other countries is the pressure that a lot of these Indian players plan day in and day out to cope with that and be captain of India for as long as he was and probably re-energise, if you like, or almost re-brand Indian cricket with the way that he went about his cricket, with his style of play and his fitness levels and his attitude towards the game, I think he’ll be remembered for a lot of things, not only his batting in Tests," Ponting remarked.

Having retired from T20Is last year, Virat Kohli will now focus solely on the One-Day International format.