BCCI’s immortal part, current Vice President Rajiv Shukla has also praised the brilliant innings of Indian legend Virat Kohli and the excellent hands of Harshit Rana who scored the first half-century of his career.
India may have lost the match and also the series to New Zealand; However, both the teams played an entertaining game in Indore. Daryl Mitchell scored a century in the series, and in return Virat Kohli; However, only the Kiwis were able to win.
Along with Kohli’s big century, some important innings included two half-centuries from lower-order Indian batsmen Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana, which helped India chase the target, but their dismissals led to India’s unfortunate defeat.
BCCI Vice President praised Virat Kohli and Harshit Rana for their brilliant innings.
Virat Kohli took charge of the Indian innings after Rohit Sharma was out in the powerplay. Chasemaster had a huge role to play when India were chasing a mammoth target of 338 runs against the Kiwis in the series decider.
However, wickets kept falling from the other end as none of the top-order players, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul could perform well and assist Kohli in chasing the huge score.
Kohli stood alone like a commando; However, he never looked worried or overconfident in his innings, which looked as fluent as possible. He got some good hands from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana later in the match, which rekindled the hopes of millions of Indian fans.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla also praised both the Indian stars for their exceptional performances, which were pleasing to watch despite India’s crushing defeat.
BCCI’s Rajeev ji tweeted- “Although we lost the match but what a performance by @imVkohli and Harshit Rana. Brilliant, brilliant @BCCI”
Although we lost the match but what a performance @imVkohli And Harshit Rana. wonderful, wonderful @bcci
– Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) 19 January 2026
Harshit Rana and Virat Kohli’s 99-run partnership revived India’s chances in chasing the huge target
When Harshit Rana came to bat, India had already lost 6 wickets, and Kohli scored a good half-century in partnership with Nitish Kumar Reddy, giving the Indian innings some breathing room.
Ravindra Jadeja could not stop the good work from all-rounder Reddy, who scored his maiden ODI half-century in Indore and was dismissed early. The score was less than 200 on the board and India had 6 wickets down and a huge target in front of them.
However, Rana not only came forward to help Virat Kohli but also took charge of scoring quick runs from the other end. He refused to give Kyle Jamieson’s double to Kohli and instead lofted the final ball into the stands for a huge six.
Rana was out after scoring his first half-century in white-ball cricket and sharing a 99-run partnership with Virat Kohli. This partnership shattered India’s expectations to a great extent.
Virat Kohli is close to Sachin Tendulkar’s record of mammoth century
The legendary Indian batsman, who is now officially the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket after surpassing Kumar Sangakkara in Vadodara, has been flawless in the 50-over format.
The second highest ODI run scorer with 14500+ runs, Kohli scored his 85th century in international cricket and 54th in ODIs. He is chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s mammoth record of a hundred centuries in international cricket, despite playing in just one format.
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