Ravi Shastri: Virat Kohli the greatest in white-ball cricket and still Test-capable
Ravi Shastri said Virat Kohli is the greatest white-ball cricketer and remains capable of Test cricket after Kohli’s innings for India in the first ODI against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, November 4.
Shastri reiterated his view on Kohli’s standing while praising the batter’s control and consistency, pointing to exceptional fitness as a reason he could still play Tests. Kohli struck 13 boundaries and a six in a 74 from 51 balls on a surface that offered plenty of assistance to the New Zealand fast bowlers, while several other Indian batters struggled with the bounce and movement.
On Sony Sports, Shastri described the innings in emphatic terms: "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 innings as he would have played in probably the last seven, eight, 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." He added: "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."
Kohli’s innings had an uneven start as Kyle Jamieson used his height to extract extra bounce and made life difficult for the Indian batters. Kohli was 29 off 27 before the second rain interruption, reached his half-century off 35 deliveries after play resumed, and then accelerated, targeting Blair Tickner; he pulled Tickner for a six and dispatched three short balls in the pacer’s next over for boundaries.
India had earlier bowled New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs, Rohit Sharma fell early in the chase, and Shubman Gill and Kohli combined for a 113-run stand for the second wicket that settled the innings. On Kohli’s running and game management, Shastri said: "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, looks after the other guy. That's it."
Kohli’s decision to retire from Test cricket midway through the IPL 2025 season followed a difficult tour of Australia earlier that year and came after he had returned to domestic cricket, turning out for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy in January 2025 after more than a decade away from the competition; Rohit Sharma retired within days. Shastri insisted Kohli could still perform in Tests: "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." Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris also reacted, saying: "I can't understand [why people were] disappointed when Virat announced his retirement. And I must say, I think I'm in that same boat, like everybody. Because when you're playing like this, he's still in the conversation for the best batsman in the world, even though he's playing one format now." Styris added: "You ask the question: when it rained, why did the crowd stay? Because they don't know whether this is the last time they're going to watch Virat Kohli at Eden Park. And you'll see the same at all the venues for these one-dayers. People will come because they want the opportunity to watch arguably the greatest player."
Kohli has scored 626 runs from just 10 ODIs in 2026 at an average of 69.55 and a strike rate of 120.61, and he will have three more ODIs against Sri Lanka at home later in the year, giving him an opportunity to push towards another 1,000-run season.
Kohli’s immediate objective is to carry this form through the remainder of the New Zealand tour, with the second ODI scheduled in Wellington on Saturday, November 7.