India vice-captain Shreyas Iyer summed up Virat Kohli’s impact in a simple line, saying the senior batter has been “walking the talk” for years, after India opened the ODI series against New Zealand with a four-wicket win on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 301, Kohli anchored the innings with a fluent 93 off 91 balls as India went 1-0 up in the three-match series.
During the knock, he became the fastest player to reach 28,000 international runs across formats and moved to second place on the list of highest run-scorers in international cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar.
Reflecting on Kohli’s innings, Iyer said his consistency and approach continue to stand out.
"Whatever we talk about his innings, it would be less. We have been seeing it for so many years now he's been doing it consistently. The way he rotates the strike and he takes on the bowlers, he basically walks the talk," Iyer said in a video posted by BCCI.
The series opener also marked Iyer’s return to international cricket after a long injury layoff. He had suffered a spleen laceration with internal bleeding during the third ODI against Australia in Sydney in October last year.
The middle-order batter said being back in the dressing room made the win more meaningful.
"Great start to the series. Coming back after a while into the team, it feels great to be a part of this squad. More than that, it was a great feeling to share the dressing room with each and every one. I was missing it for quite a while, but I am happy to be back," Iyer said.
Fast bowler Harshit Rana made an early impact with the ball, dismissing New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls. He also chipped in with 29 off 23 balls while batting at No. 8.
Talking about his wickets, Rana said execution worked in his favour.
"The first wicket I took was of Nicholls. While I was planning to bowl wide to him but I hadn't thought of a wide yorker but it landed right. The other wicket was of Devon Conway and it felt great to scalp two wickets in two back-to-back overs," said Rana.
The 24-year-old added that he is working on his batting to contribute more lower down the order and credited his father for pushing him in that direction.
"The credit for my batting goes to my father because he always used to think that all-rounders get early chances for playing in the Indian team. I am developing my game in such a manner that I can contribute with 30-40 runs for the team, coming at number 8," Rana added.