The one-day series is now evenly matched after 1-1. India enlarged their lead in the series by winning the opening match in Vadodara by four wickets. Nonetheless, New Zealand countered the situation by winning the second ODI comfortably with a seven-wicket margin at Rajkot.

Virat Kohli, who has been absolutely brilliant lately, could not achieve a rare feat in the second ODI against New Zealand. He got out after scoring just 23 runs off 29 balls during the run chase.

Before the second match, Kohli had scored 50 or more in his last five ODIs in a row, and his scores were 74*, 135, 102, 65*, and 93. The Indian star might have been the first to register six successive 50-plus ODI scores in the world if he had got this one.

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But he did not receive the credit for the accomplishment. On four other occasions, Kohli has batted just below the 50 mark but had never gone past five successive scores of over 50 in the format. Moreover, the other Indian hitters who have scored 50 or more runs in five consecutive ODIs are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane.

Nevertheless, Virat Kohli, with his excellent form and regular performance, was ranked the No. 1 ODI batsman with 785 rating points. He has now overstepped his teammate Rohit to take the first position for the first time since 2021.