CHENNAI: It now seems like a million miles away but when Virat Kohli began the final chapter of life as an Indian cricketer — a one format only player — he couldn't make a run. His first two innings, both on difficult surfaces in the series in Australia in October saw him return scores of 0 and 0.
In the now fast-changing world of Indian cricket, it was somehow proof of waning powers. Would he face constant scrutiny, every failure a referendum? Even if Ajit Agarkar had said it would be silly to put them on trial whenever he (and Rohit Sharma) came out to bat, there was an undercurrent of tension.
So much so that when Kohli got off the mark in the third ODI in Australia, he had the widest of grins, an acknowledgement of sorts that life can sometimes get hard for the owner of 81 international 100s.
It's now safe to call off the search, bring the dogs back and consider the case closed. That minor blip in Australia was just that — a random statistical quirk. A glitch in the matrix.
On Sunday, at the new Kotambi in Vadodara — incidentally the first time the men's team was playing in the city since 2010 — the 37-year-old once again showed how he has continued to evolve as a batter, especially in this format. When his work for the night was done, New Zealand had already faced the full extent of this version of Kohli, the fun, hedonist who would happily dance down the wicket twice in the opening exchanges to set the tone.
It's something he did to devastating effect as four of his first six scoring shots went for boundaries. Granted, the Black Caps had a few bowlers very inexperienced at this level but the Kohli had made a similar start against the visiting South Africans last month.
This is all part of a rejigged batting philosophy that Kohli has seemingly decided to employ. A graphic put out by the host broadcaster told its own story. In ODIs from January 2023 to October 2025, the No. 3 liked to take his time, get his eye in, assess conditions and the bowlers before exploding (a strike rate in the high 70s). The run down to third man, nudge to mid-wicket were his shots after coming in.
These days, they are one of many options. A strike rate over 90 in the first 10 balls. On Sunday, it was 100. It never dipped below that mark as after that rapid start and with the target in check, he began to marmalise the largely unthreatening bowling.
While he has retained the ability to do this match after match and year after year, what he seems to have added to his bow, even this late in his career, is the capacity to reinvent his game.
Sure, he fell seven short of what would have been a record-extending 54th ODI 100 but his second wind has already turned into a menacing storm for opposition bowlers.
There were some hiccups once he departed but the calm KL Rahul, at No. 6, guided the hosts home with six balls and four wickets to spare. Washington Sundar, who was there at the end, had picked up an injury so it will be interesting to see if the all-rounder recovers in time for the second ODI, scheduled to be held in Rajkot on Wednesday.
Shreyas Iyer, who came back post his spleen injury in Australia, posted a stylish 47-ball 49.
Brief scores: New Zealand 300/8 in 50 ovs (Conway 56, Nicolls 62, Mitchell 84; Siraj 2/40, Rana 2/65, Krishna 2/60) lost to India 306/6 in 49 ovs (Sharma 26, Gill 56, Kohli 93, Shreyas 49, Rahul 29 n.o, Rana 29; Jamieson 4/41).
