Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has opined that Virat Kohli has always been ahead of Rohit Sharma in the ODI format. Kaif highlighted that Kohli has always converted his starts, and he has never settled for a score of 30-40.
Kohli has been a consistent performer for India in ODIs in the last 15 years and has delivered the goods. The talisman scored a match-winning knock of 93 runs off just 91 balls in the opening ODI against the Kiwis on Sunday.
The right-hander recently scored 350 runs in three ODIs against South Africa at an average of 150.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma is also in rich form in the recent past. Rohit scored 202 runs in three ODIs against Australia.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “Why is Virat Kohli’s name so big in ODIs? Because he does not settle for 30s or 40s. That is the difference between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma if you look at their entire careers. Virat Kohli converts starts. A score of 30 or 40 means he will go on to stay till the end, win the match, and if he gets into form, he becomes consistent.”
“That is why, in ODI cricket, Virat Kohli has always been ahead of Rohit Sharma. He scores runs consistently and plays big innings regularly. Rohit Sharma now wants to move onto that same path because he probably has only two or three years left. He will not be satisfied with 30s or 40s anymore. You can see it when he got out in the first ODI; he was shaking his head, clearly thinking he played a wrong shot,” he added
Meanwhile, Kaif noted that Rohit Sharma has changed his batting approach and he is no longer looking for boundaries all the time.
“I have noticed that now he is pacing his innings. He starts quickly, then slows down, playing singles and doubles and adding the occasional boundary, much like Virat Kohli. He is no longer constantly chasing boundaries. Instead, he is planning to pace his innings and play long knocks. We have seen this change recently after he was removed from captaincy.”
“His intent has shifted. He wants to play big innings and remain unbeaten. You might remember the century he scored in Australia, where he stayed not out. That seems to be Rohit’s plan for the upcoming matches,” he added.
The second ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Rajkot on Wednesday.
