Virat Kohli in action. (FILE photo)

While the other batters struggled to score runs, India’s talisman Virat Kohli looked imperious against New Zealand in the first ODI in Auckland. On a pitch offering tennis-ball bounce, Kohli consistently got on top of it and timed the ball to perfection. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri said that a 51-ball 74-run innings was worth a century.

“A 70 in conditions like these is worth a hundred. He never got ahead of himself throughout the innings. And when he stays in fourth gear like this, then God help you. When the youngsters in the dressing room watch him and how he still gets angry at getting out at 38, they’ll understand they have work to do,” Ravi Shastri said about the knock on Sony Sports.

“He also took a lot of pressure off Shubman Gill at the other end. He gets off strike so quickly that the pressure is on the bowler at all times.…