Virat Kohli pulls off ‘Naagin-been’ celebration after Glenn Phillips falls to Shreyas Iyer's brilliant catch in 1st ODI

Virat Kohli turned snake charmer as he celebrated Glenn Phillips' dismissal alongside the team. Kuldeep Yadav's slower ball outside off caught Glenn Phillips early on the shot, and Shreyas Iyer, the vice-captain, caught one simply at the cover region.

India won the toss in the first match of the New Zealand series as Shubman Gill returned as the skipper of the Indian team. As they opted to bowl first, Indian bowlers made a positive comeback after being thrashed for some runs by the opening batters.

Virat Kohli turns snake charmer to celebrate Glenn Phillips' dismissal

Glenn Phillips came in to bat at no. 5 when Mohammed Siraj picked Will Young's wicket in his second spell. Phillips looked firm against the spinners until Kuldeep Yadav slowed one down as he forced the batter to reach for the wide delivery.

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Phillips tried a drive on the ball, had to reach out for it, and went early with the shot. Due to his hard hands and the flight of the ball, the ball flew low towards the cover region, and Shreyas Iyer, the fielder there, who does not drop many, completed a simple catch.

Virat Kohli reaction to Sarpanch Shahab after he took the catch to dismiss Glenn Phillips😅#Cricket #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/0s4zpwQib8

— CREX (@Crex_live) January 11, 2026

Kohli Celebration after Philips Wicket😂♥️#ViratKohli #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/k3ZUH5N7RQ

— KOHLISM (@166of110) January 11, 2026

Virat Kohli is such a vibe 😄❤️ pic.twitter.com/HTdyzWFRZh

— Suprvirat (@Mostlykohli) January 11, 2026

Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls hand New Zealand a promising start

Devon Conway, the left-handed batting master from New Zealand who was rejected during the IPL auction of 2026, has made the Indian franchises regret it. Conway has been in fine touch since then, having scored runs in Test cricket and the SA20 and now started the series on a commanding note with a half-century.

Henry Nicholls, on the other hand, would not have been in the playing XI had Rachin Ravindra been playing. However, he made good use of the opportunity, and his 62 off 69 balls seemed a very crucial innings in the healthy start of the New Zealand innings.

After the first 20 overs, New Zealand managed an unbeaten opening partnership of 117 runs, which helped the team gather confidence early on in the game.

Daryll Mitchell is battling to hand New Zealand a strong finish

Daryl Mitchell is one of the highest-ranked ODI batters in the world. He was formerly the top-ranked ICC ODI batter before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli surpassed him and demoted him to no. 3.

Mitchell played a fine innings under pressure as he looked fearless and flawless, but none of the partnerships ever got going as the wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Whenever New Zealand looked to accelerate, wickets continued to tumble.

Daryll Mitchell stood as a one-man commando against the Indian attack, but runs did not come that easily on this tough batting surface in Vadodara.

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