Virat Kohli reveals reason behind New Zealand's stellar record against India
India last defeated the Black Caps in the 2003 edition of the ICC World Cup. Since 1992, India have only registered a single win over the Kiwis in ICC events.
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As Team India confronts New Zealand in match No.21 of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday, much is at stake. Following four consecutive victories in their respective campaigns, India and New Zealand will meet again since the 2019 semifinals for the One Day International (ODI) World Cup. In an exhilarating match, New Zealand, led by Virat Kohli, stunned the Virat Kohli-led side in order to secure their berth for the 2019 World Cup final.
Team India will attempt to regain its composure following the sorrow of 2019 on Sunday by inflicting its first ICC loss on New Zealand in two decades. The last time India defeated the Black Caps was during the 2003 ICC World Cup. India has not achieved a victory over the Kiwis in an ICC match since 1992. Prior to India's pivotal match against the Williamson-less side, batting legend Kohli discussed the Black Caps' stellar record.
"New Zealand's style of play is structured."
"They exhibit a high degree of professionalism and contain a great deal of structure." They play cricket in a highly structured manner, but they are extremely consistent within that framework; this has been the reason for their consistent success. "Their consistency is commensurate with the manner in which they have conducted themselves in cricket," Kohli told Star Sports.
New Zealand defeated reigning world champions England to begin its campaign in India. The New Zealanders then defeated Bangladesh (by eight wickets) and the Netherlands (by 99 runs) prior to crushing Afghanistan by 149 runs. In contrast,
India emerged victorious against archrivals Pakistan by seven wickets and five-time champions Australia by six wickets. Furthermore, the Men In Blue triumphed over Afghanistan by 69 runs. India have made their way to Dharamsala following a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
"New Zealand is not prone to errors."
"It goes without saying that any team facing them must devise strategies to disrupt their rhythm and perform at their peak. This ultimately determines whether or not they can be matched in terms of consistency. They are not a team that commits many errors, which has been their forte. At the international level, maintaining a low error rate increases the likelihood of prevailing more often than not. "Therefore, as I previously stated, their cricket structure deserves complete credit," Kohli continued.
Kohli is performing exceptionally well at the World Cup.
Batting prodigy Kohli scored his 48th century during India's preliminary match of the ODI World Cup 2023. Kohli is on the verge of matching Tendulkar's record aggregate of 49 ODI hundreds by one century.
Four matches into the ODI World Cup, the 34-year-old has accumulated 259 runs. "The way they have come up in world cricket in the last 6-7 years, 2015 finalists, 2019 finalists and they have beat us in the ICC Test Championship final as well, so yeah big credit goes to them," Kohli stated.
