Crunch time has arrived in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s mission to redeem themselves at next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
India’s five-match ODI series in New Zealand begins on Wednesday at Auckland’s Eden Park.
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While the iconic rugby stadium is Australia’s house of pain, it is the wounds that Australia inflicted upon them in Ahmedabad in 2023 that Kohli and Sharma are still trying to heal.
So much so that the two veteran batting superstars have become one format international players trying to secure the fairytale ending, after an inspired bowling performance from Pat Cummins’ men and Travis Head’s unforgettable century denied them last time.
“It’s the last World Cup I’m going to play for India, and that is my motivation – to leave everything out there,” Kohli said in September of next year’s tournament.
“The goal is absolutely to win the World Cup. And whatever it takes, whatever it takes, I’m absolutely ready.”
ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know as blockbuster ODI series gets underway
Both retired from Test cricket last year after a calamitous tour of Australia. They then pulled up stumps on T20 international cricket following their World Cup final victory in the Caribbean in 2024.
Preparing for the road ahead, which ramps up from Wednesday, won’t be easy — New Zealand have also been responsible for several of the most disappointing moments of Kohli and Sharma’s career.
You could easily argue that the Black Caps are a greater nemesis to India than Australia.
Kane Williamson’s side defeated India in an ODI World Cup semi-final at Old Trafford in 2019 that was remarkably played over two days due to Manchester rain.
Williamson’s team again broke Indian hearts in England in 2021 when they won the inaugural World Test Championship final at Southampton.
New Zealand also dusted India 3-0 in their own backyard in 2024 – it was the first time India had lost a Test series at home in 12 years.
It is safe to say that the Black Caps are India’s bogey team – even if the tourists did win the T20 series that preceded the ODIs 3-2.
That’s a daunting reality for Kohli and Sharma given this five-game series in New Zealand will serve as the best test yet of their credentials to even make it to next year’s ODI World Cup.
There is no doubt over their ability to still plunder runs at home on flat pitches, lightning fast outfields and only having to reach at times 50-60 metres boundaries – even if Eden Park’s notoriously tiny straight boundaries may offer a sense of familiarity.
In their most recent series, a high-scoring three-match affair at home against the West Indies, Sharma smacked 225 runs, while Kohli struck 168 runs.
As Shubman Gill smashed the fastest ever ODI double century and India chased their target 406 with 39 balls to spare in the second game, Sharma made 101 from 75 balls.
The 39-year-old opener followed it up with 92 off 85 in the series finale, but the West Indies ran down 352 in the penultimate over.
Kohli scored a century of his own in the series opener.
His unbeaten 139 off 88 powered India to an eight-wicket win.
The standout of Kohli’s series was his improved strike rate – topping the standings by striking at 155.55.
It has been a noticeable feature of the 37-year-old’s ODI batting in 2026.
Kohli has scored 552 runs in nine ODI innings this year at an average of 69 and a strike rate of 117.94, including two centuries and three half-centuries.
He has certainly brought his words to life.
“I promised to myself that I’m going to play more freely,” Kohli said of the final chapter of his international career in an interview before next year’s World Cup draw was announced in September.
“This time, I’m making a conscious effort that if I’m set, to make a difference in the game, get 30-40 extra runs. I want to be in a space where if I am choosing not to take a risk, it’s because I’m setting up eventually to get to a point where I say, ‘okay, now press the accelerator down’.
“It’s not to say ‘I’ll keep going at that rate and not accelerate at any stage and then do it at the end’. Now the game is changing in a way that especially if the conditions are fast-paced and good and other teams are looking to press you towards 340, 350, we should be able to get 350, 360 also.
“I’m very willing to take risks now because I know that [we] will get 350, 360 easy. And doing that, if I play longer, then I can hit more at the end. So I had to unlock like a little bit of that, you know, freedom in my own mind.”
England arrive for white ball tour | 01:12
But New Zealand will present a different challenge.
The white ball is different to the red ball, but the trend in ODI cricket in New Zealand in recent times has been that the surfaces have been more bowler friendly.
It has presented an interrogation of top batters more akin to the longest format than the shortest format.
In the last three ODI series across the last two New Zealand summer, there has been one score greater than 300.
That came in the first game of that stretch against Pakistan in Napier.
In five non-rain affected ODIs against the West Indies and England last summer, the average score batting first was 210.
All of those matches were day/night contests, as all five matches will be on this tour.
And New Zealand’s quicks, the likes of Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith, will be trying to target Kohli and Sharma like the Australians did in the final series of their Test careers.
Kohli nicked off for every dismissal of that tour, making 190 runs at 23.75, while Sharma managed only 31 runs at 6.2 in three Tests.
Those difficulties will be in the back of their minds and those tough experiences mean that Sharma, who was captain on that tour, is not looking far too ahead.
“The discussion is about what we can do. When we are batting together, we are discussing about whom to attack, whom to take a single off, what to do,” Sharma said in September.
“Obviously, we’re different individuals in terms of how we carry ourselves on the field, but other than that, goal, thinking for the team is pretty much the same: that we have to win the match.
“We have to win the World Cup, we have to win the tournament, we have to win the series, we have to do well for the team.”
Kohli has not been shy when it comes to his ambitions.
More slices of history are dangling in front of him on this tour.
He is level with Sachin Tendulkar for the most List A centuries with 60 apiece, while Kohli needs two more half-centuries in victories to surpass Ricky Ponting (94) for having scores the most ODI fifty-plus scores in wins.
If this New Zealand tour does not go to plan, there will be opportunities at home against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in December and January.
But India do not have any more away ODI series scheduled before next year’s World Cup.
So, this five-match series will be vital in giving Kohli the belief that he can achieve his dream and sail off into the sunset.
“I’ve always been someone who, every game that we play I want to be the guy who wins us the game – so that’s never going to go away from me. I am made that way,” he said.
“So my goal [at the World Cup] is to win as many games as I can for the team – 60-70% of the games would be phenomenal. My dream is to play a match-winning, finishing knock in the finals, like chasing a score. That’s the ideal scenario. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t happen, we win the World Cup, I’ll be as happy.
“It’s the last time you’re getting to play a World Cup. So just getting that trophy is the most important thing. If I have the opportunity to do it as an individual staying there out in the middle, there’s nothing more satisfying as a batsman.
“That drives us – to be the guy who makes an impact. Situation difficult; you visualise yourself pulling the team out of trouble. And that’s what makes you compete. So I don’t want to let go of that competitiveness.”
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