IND vs NZ | Both new openers gave us good start, reveals Virat Kohli

IND vs NZ | Both new openers gave us good start, reveals Virat Kohli

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After going 1-0 down in the ODI series, Virat Kohli has stated that two debutants - Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw - gave India a good start and he hoped they would carry on like that in the future. The Indian skipper has also emphasized on the need of the team to improve their fielding standard.

While Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of the New Zealand tour with an injury sustained in the Bengaluru ODI against Australia, it became a double whammy for India when Rohit Sharma sustained a calf tear in the last T20I against New Zealand. That meant Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw had to open the innings, becoming the fourth Indian debutant pair to come out to bat at Zero-down. Adding 50 runs for the opening wicket in eight overs, the duo made sure the base was rightly laid and Kohli is happy about it.

"Both new openers gave us a good start, hope they continue to do the same. Shreyas's hundred was outstanding and KL was brilliant with the bat too," Kohli said in the post-match press conference, reported Cricbuzz.

Even though India brought a game out of a precarious situation with the help of two splendid innings from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, New Zealand made India pay the price for their middle-over problems. Ross Taylor and Tom Latham were too good with their application, ensuring the team went over the line with an over to spare. Kohli reserved praise for the duo.

"An outstanding performance by New Zealand. We thought 348 was good enough, especially after the start we got with the ball. I think Tom's innings took the game away from us. Ross and Tom were unstoppable in the middle overs," the Indian skipper said.

The major point of contention, however, was India's fielding, with the team dropping a catch and failing to inflict many run-outs. It has become some sort of a recurring pattern and Kohli admitted it as well.

"We were decent in the field, we dropped one chance. We need to improve though. We can't think about that one chance. To bat with a positive frame of mind for about 25 overs after that chance is not a small thing at all," the 31-year-old added.

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