Daryl Mitchell, Who won the Player of the Match award for his match-winning century in the 3rd ODI, as well as the Player of the Match award for scoring more than 300 runs, has been the talk of the town for his brilliant ODI record against India.
Mitchell received praise for his performance in the series decider, which catapulted him to the number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings, replacing Virat Kohli, who gifted him a special jersey after the match.
Virat Kohli gifts a special jersey to Daryl Mitchell
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Daryl Mitchell was one of the best batsmen of both the teams in the recently concluded ODI series against India, scoring over 300 runs and helping his team win the ODI series for the first time in India.
In the match played at Holar Cricket Stadium, Indore, Mitchell scored a match-winning century, which was his second consecutive century in the series, he had played a similar innings during the second game in Rajkot.
Daryl Mitchell has scored four centuries in the last five ODIs he has played against India so far, some of which came in the 2023 ODI World Cup, including a century in the semi-final in Mumbai.
Interestingly, Mitchell has not been selected in the upcoming edition of the IPL despite his ability to go through the gears at different stages of the game as well as play both fast and spin bowling with ease.
Responsibility
As well as scoring a century in the third ODI against India, Mitchell also bowled a few overs in the absence of Michael Bracewell, who was injured in this particular game, and also led the side.
The fast bowling all-rounder made up for the lack of a fifth bowling option by bowling a few overs in the middle stages of India’s batting innings and at least kept things tight from his side, putting pressure on the Indian batsmen.
It was a complete game in every sense for Mitchell as he took a catch that was extremely important, that of Virat Kohli, who was threatening to take the game away from New Zealand at the end of the chase.
Mitchell has replaced Virat Kohli as the number one batsman in the latest ICC ODI rankings following his performance in the third ODI against the Men in Blue.
Signal
Mitchell’s series-winning performance was acknowledged by Virat Kohli, who gifted him a special jersey after scoring a century himself as the all-rounder became the world number one ODI batsman.
Virat Kohli gifts his jersey to Daryl Mitchell
– A beautiful gesture by the king. pic.twitter.com/jcteD16Ibh
– Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) 19 January 2026
The event took place after the match was over and the players were getting ready for the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli came on the field to gift a special jersey to Daryl Mitchell.
Both teams will now be involved in a five-match T20I series, with Suryakumar Yadav leading India and Mitchell Santner returning to lead New Zealand as they aim to win and gain momentum for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
