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India vs New Zealand's fifth and final ODI match concluded on Sunday at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. The Men in Blue won the match by 22 runs and also won the series 1-3. After the match, India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir took a subtle dig at two of India’s batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
The Men in Blue side created history on Sunday, as they did a series double over the Kiwis in New Zealand for the first time. Shreyas Iyer won the T20I series, and then Shubman Gill and Iyer combined in the ODIs to win it. Though the series has been in the name of bowlers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed in the series.
Gautam Gambhir takes swipe at Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Gautam Gambhir took a swipe at the two Indian stalwarts of ODI cricket, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. As the head coach tweeted via X (formerly Twitter), he said he is proud of his boys and also recalled his statement that bowlers win series away from home. He first stated it after the T20I series win over the Black Caps.
Bowlers win you series ! Proud of our boys 🇮🇳 https://t.co/7dRamQnMlM
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) November 15, 2026
Gauti via X (formerly Twitter) said, "Bowlers win you series! Proud of our boys". This is an old proverb that batters win you games and bowlers win you tournaments. Gambhir will be extremely proud of the way the inexperienced and young bowling attack has performed throughout the ODI series and asked questions of the Kiwi batters.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's performance vs New Zealand
With this tweet, did he take a swipe at Virat and Rohit? The two batters did not have the best of their series, as both failed to register a century in this series. Virat Kohli in the series had scored just one fifty, which came in the first game, as he scored 74 runs. In total, he finished with 86 runs.
Rohit Sharma before this series had scored two hundreds and one 90 in his last five innings. However, he failed in this series, with a high score of just 23 runs. The former captain finished the four-match series with just 30 runs at an average of 7.50, including two ducks. This is not concerning, but he would like to make a comeback.
India bowlers shine
Coming to the match after being asked to bat first, India posted 209 runs, with middle-order batter Axar Patel (46) and Ishan Kishan (46), and some runs from the tail helped the side go past 200 runs. Mitchell Santner and Jacob Duffy picked three wickets each.
While chasing, the Kiwis had a decent start, but under lights the ball yet again did a bit more movement and bounced as the Black Caps kept on losing wickets; despite stitching some small partnerships, they were bowled out for 187 runs. Arshdeep Singh picked 3/30, Mohammed Siraj 2/50.
Now the head coach’s focus will shift from white-ball to red-ball cricket, as he would want his side to win the Test series as well, to keep their hopes alive for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 final.
Also Read: Mitchell Santner opens up on his hand injury, credits Shreyas Iyer for India's 3-1 ODI series win
