Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has called ace India batter Virat Kohli the greatest in white-ball cricket, especially the ODI format. He further stated that Kohli will also perform in Test cricket due to his fitness levels. Notably, Kohli, who is celebrating his 38th birthday on November 5, retired from Tests in 2025 and from T20Is in 2024.
Kohli was the star for the Indian team in the first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland, as he struck 13 fours and one six in his 51-ball 74 runs as India chased down a revised target of 143 runs in 22.4 overs, with 5 wickets in hand.
Earlier, Arshdeep Singh’s four wickets and Gurnoor Brar’s three wickets halted the New Zealand innings to 185 runs in 40.2 overs.
The batting performance of Kohli was not unique for the number of runs Kohli scored, but also because of the way Kohli played the game. When other players in the Indian team found it hard to adjust to the bounce and turn on the pitch, Kohli seemed to be playing on a different track.
Shastri was really taken aback by the way Kohli controlled his shot and played the game, saying that it was one of the best innings played by Kohli.
"I think this is as good as he's ever batted in these conditions. On this kind of track, not to put a foot wrong, to play with that kind of fluency and authority is not easy. This is as good an inning as he would have played in probably the last seven, eight, or ten years, if I may say so. He took batting to another level there. For everyone else, it was a different pitch, and that's what great players can do. He is probably the greatest white-ball player of all time," Shastri told Sony Sports.
"When you look at his stats, the number of runs he's got, how quickly he's got them, the number of hundreds he's got, the number of matches he wins in a chase, and then he bats like that, classic batsman," he added.
Kohli was troubled by Kyle Jamieson early in his innings and had made only 29 runs in 27 balls before rains interrupted the Indian innings for the second time. However, once the game resumed, Kohli went on the offensive, reaching his fifty in 35 balls. Blair Tickner got special treatment from Kohli, who hit him for one six and three boundaries across two overs.
Shastri pointed out that Kohli's ability to pick his moments, coupled with his running between the wickets, keeps bowlers under constant pressure.
"He targets the first or second ball of an over, like we saw a lot of times today, and then gets off strike. He's such a good runner between the wickets that the pressure is on the bowler all the time. He doesn't get too many deliveries to bowl to Kohli. It's not like six balls, five balls in an over. He'll hit you for a couple of boundaries; he's off-strike and looks after the other guy. That's it," Shastri said.
After having endured a lull in his Test career post the COVID pandemic, Kohli’s performance in the format became increasingly inconsistent. Then, despite starting the 2024-25 Australia Test tour with a century in the first Test in Perth, Kohli struggled for the rest of the series.
During the IPL 2025, in May, Kohli announced his retirement from Tests, having played 123 games, scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 with 30 centuries and 31 fifties.
Shastri believes Kohli still has the physical capacity and the game to compete at the highest level in Test cricket.
"You go and ask international players, the top players; they will say, 'We want him to play Test cricket.' There is no question. He will still perform, because his fitness levels are so high that he makes it look easy. It's not something that he is putting in extra effort for. It's just muscle memory and work ethic. It's just special," Shastri said.
For the moment, however, it looks like Kohli's main concern will be extending his run of good form throughout the rest of the tour of New Zealand, where the next ODI is to be held in Wellington on Saturday, November 7.
So far this year, Kohli has racked up 626 runs from only 10 ODIs, for an average of 69.55 and a strike rate of 120.61.
