Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in action. (FILE photo)

It did not take too long for New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner to be asked about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, two colossuses of ODIs. Flashing his self-effacing grin, he said: “They’re getting on, but they’re still playing very well. We saw it in the last series against the West Indies. I’ve seen it for a long time. I’ve seen Rohit in the IPL as well,” he said.

Both don’t have flattering numbers here. Rohit Sharma has not scored a hundred here, and averages 35.7. Virat Kohli aggregates 46, but his last hundred came in the 2013-14 tour, on his first outing here. But Santner is aware of the sting. “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 time.…