Mohammad Kaif reveals why Virat Kohli is ahead of Rohit Sharma in ODIs

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has asserted that the Indian talismanic batter Virat Kohli’s consistency and converting starts have put him ahead of his colleague Rohit Sharma in the 50-over format.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand, Kaif stated that Kohli has been consistently scoring runs and playing big knocks. Notably, Kohli has amassed 677 runs in his last seven innings in List-A cricket. 

"Virat Kohli converts starts. A score of 30 or 40 means he will stay till the end, win the match, and, if he gets into form, become consistent. That is why, in ODI cricket, Virat Kohli has always been ahead of Rohit Sharma. He consistently scores runs and plays big innings. You can see it when Virat Kohli got out in the first ODI; he was shaking his head, clearly thinking he played a wrong shot," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

In the first ODI against New Zealand, Kohli was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock of 93 runs, which propelled India to a four-wicket win and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. 

Interestingly, Kohli has been in red-hot form, scoring five consecutive fifty-plus totals in ODI cricket after his two consecutive ducks against Australia Down Under. Notably, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane are level with Kohli with five successive ODI fifty-plus scores. 

India vs New Zealand squads:

India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Ayush Badoni, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel.

New Zealand Squad: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay(w), Michael Bracewell(c), Zakary Foulkes, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Adithya Ashok, Jayden Lennox, Nick Kelly, Josh Clarkson, Michael Rae.

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