'Rohit and Kohli are still playing well', says New Zealand captain Santner

Keeping pressure and inducing mistakes is the most successful method to stop them, he points out.

It did not take too long for New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner to be asked about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, two colossuses of ODIs. Flashing his self-effacing grin, he said: "They're getting on, but they're still playing very well. We saw it in the last series against the West Indies. I've seen it for a long time. I've seen Rohit in the IPL as well," he said.

Both don't have flattering numbers here. Rohit Sharma has not scored a hundred here, and averages 35.7. Virat Kohli aggregates 46, but his last hundred came in the 2013-14 tour, on his first outing here. But Santner is aware of the sting. "Their role is to go pretty hard at the top and then set up a good score in the middle and let their power come in at the end," Santner said. "Rohit, obviously, and Kohli have done it for a long time. Shubman has been outstanding as well for the last five years," he added.

He also dwelled on Rohit's improved ability to counter short-pitched bowling. "Teams have tried to go short at Rohit before, but he hits those for six now," he said. He explained the success code on New Zealand's diverse tracks and peculiar conditions. "If the pitch offers more than the other night, can you do it for a long period of time and challenge the batter? And then if it's flat, how do we change? What does it look like? Subtle field changes," he said. "But I think there's not too many secrets with ODI cricket with bowling."

Building pressure remains the key, he stressed. "It's just building pressure and trying to get wickets through that way. We've obviously sat down as a bowling group and discussed what that looks like, what their line-up looks like, how to operate in New Zealand, which I guess we know how to operate on these pitches," he said.

The presence of Rohit and Kohli, in arguably their last series in New Zealand, could draw crowds. "I think it draws the crowds. We've had some really good crowds throughout the T20 series, and I expect they'll be the same with Rohit and Virat being here," he said. All stadiums were packed in 2020 as well, a series that India lost 3-0.

He, though, said the quick turnaround has made the series taxing. "It's a very quick turnaround. With the travel and the late finishes in T20 cricket, the guys are a little bit jarred today. Recovery is a massive part of the schedule at the moment," Santner said.

"With one-day cricket and quick turnarounds, it can be quite taxing. You want to play your best team all the time, but with the schedules these days and the quick turnarounds, it's pretty hard to do," he added.