New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner has opined that it would be crucial for them to dismiss Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply in the upcoming ODI series against India. Rohit and Virat have all the experience under their belt and they are going to be the big wickets for the Kiwis.
The experienced duo has been in prolific form and they would look to carry their impetus. While Rohit scored 225 runs in three games against the West Indies, Kohli amassed 168 runs in as many matches.
“I guess we’ll try to stop them pretty early in every game, ideally. Their role is to go pretty hard at the top, then set up a good score in the middle and then let their power kind of come in at the end. Teams have tried to go short at Rohit before, but he hits those for six now. Kohli’s obviously an anchor for them. We know how good they are and, you know. I guess they’re getting on, but they’re still playing very well… I’ve seen it for a long time,” said Santner in the pre-match press conference. (via RevSportz)
Meanwhile, Rohit recently completed 12000 ODI runs in the series against the West Indies. There have been doubts raised on Rohit’s place in the ODI team but he has answered his critics in style. Rohit scored a fine century in the last ODI of the series against England and also scored a hundred against the West Indies.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli scored a magnum opus knock of 139 runs off just 88 balls in the series opener against the West Indies.
The first ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Eden Park, Auckland, on Wednesday.
