The last match of the three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand is going to be held in Indore today (January 24). The Indian team has already achieved an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series. Now by winning the third ODI, she would like to defeat the visiting team. In this match, all eyes will be on star batsman Virat Kohli, from whom Indian fans would be expecting a big innings.
Virat Kohli, who scored two centuries in the ODI series against Sri Lanka this year, could not do anything special in the first two matches against the Kiwi team and scored only 19 runs with his bat. On both occasions, he was walked by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner. In the first match, Kohli missed the length completely and the ball hit the stumps. At the same time, in the second ODI, Kohli was completely dodged by flight and turn and had to return to the pavilion after being stumped.
…then the confidence will increase for the test series
It is very important for Virat Kohli to score runs in the third ODI because after this Kohli will be seen playing directly in the Test series against Australia next month. Australia’s four-match Test series is very important for the Indian team because only through this series it will be known whether Rohit Brigade will go into the World Test Championship file or not. If Virat Kohli makes a big score in the third ODI, then his confidence will be on the seventh sky and he will come down against Australia with full morale.
Click- Ravi Shastri advised Virat Kohli not to play third ODI
If Virat Kohli is not able to do anything special in the last ODI, then there may be pressure on him in the Australia series. The Australian team has spinners like Nathan Lyon who can trouble Virat with his spin. The way Kohli has been seen struggling with Mitchell Santner’s balls, he is not giving good signs for this important Test series. In such a situation, Virat Kohli would like to score runs in the third ODI so that he can bat against spin bowlers like Leon with a fresh mindset.
Kohli scored Test century in 2019
Virat Kohli’s form in the last few years in Test cricket has not been good. Virat Kohli’s last Test century came against Bangladesh in the year 2019. More than three years have passed since then, but Kohli has not been able to score a Test century. Virat Kohli also participated in the recent two-match Test series against Bangladesh where he scored a total of 45 runs with the bat. Kohli was able to score only 265 runs in six Tests last year at a poor average of 26.50.
Returned to form from Asia Cup
Virat Kohli returned to form through the Asia Cup held in UAE last year. In that tournament, Kohli scored a century in the match against Afghanistan. Through that century, Kohli was successful in ending the century drought of almost three years. Incidentally, it was also Kohli’s first century in T20 International. In the Asia Cup 2022, Kohli was the second highest run-scorer in the tournament with 276 runs in five matches.
After this, Virat Kohli did wonders with the bat in the T20 World Cup held in Australia and with 296 runs, he got the first place in the list of highest run-scorers. After this, Kohli scored a century in the last ODI of the series against Bangladesh. Then he also managed to score two centuries in Sri Lanka’s ODI series. If seen, before this series, Kohli had touched the century figure in three out of four ODI innings.