New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner praised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for their outstanding performances for Team India ahead of the ODI series
Published: November 3, 2026, 4:25 PM IST
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Mitchell Santner praised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of ODI series vs India (Image – X)
Recently, Team India and New Zealand played the five-match T20I seriesWhere the result went to the Indian team’s corner as they delivered a remarkable performance, which helped them to seal the series by 3-2.
Now, both teams are ready to face each other in the five-match ODI series as it will begin from November 4thThis series is going to be challenging for the hosts as the legendary players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be back in action for the Indian team.
New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner applauded Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma by saying they are good for the ODI game.
“They’re getting on, but they’re still playing very wellWe saw it in the last series against the West IndiesI’ve seen it for a long timeI’ve seen Rohit in the IPL as well,” Santner said at the pre-match press conference.
Mitchell Santner also said that their strategy would depend on the nature of the surface as his side need to be prepared for both the seam-friendly conditions and flatter pitches.
“When it’s doing a bit, what does it look like? And then when it’s flat, what does that look like as well?” he said.
He also opened up on the attention the duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma getting ahead of this series“I think it draws the crowdsWe’ve had some really good crowds throughout the T20 series, and I expect they’ll be the same with Rohit and Virat being here.”
Santner revealed that his side had already discussed the Indian batting lineup and how to tackle veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for this ODI series.
“We’ve obviously sat down as a bowling group and discussed what that looks like, what their line-up looks like, how to operate in New Zealand, which I guess we know how to operate on these pitches,” he said.
However, he said that Ro-Ko’s experience makes them tough players to faceTheir role is to give a solid start to the team at the beginning and help the rest of the players to do well.
“Their role is to go pretty hard at the top and then set up a good score in the middle and let their power come in at the end,” Santner said.
“Rohit, obviously, and Kohli have done it for a long timeShubman’s been outstanding as well for the last five years,” he added.
