Duffy’s honest assessment of Virat Kohli believes there is no need to exploit weaknesses

Virat Kohli’s batting left New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy searching for answers after the former India captain produced a commanding 74 in the first ODI at Eden Park on Wednesday. Having shared the dressing room with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their victorious IPL 2026 campaign, Duffy also had a close look at the batsman’s ability in the nets. His verdict was unequivocal: there is very little to exploit in Kohli’s game.

NZ vs IND, 1st ODI: Highlighting | Scorecard

Kohli hit 13 boundaries and a six in his 51-ball innings to lead India to a five-wicket win in a rain-shortened match. Chasing a revised target of 143, India got home with 56 balls to spare, with the 37-year-old setting the tone after Rohit Sharma fell for a duck.

Duffy, who regularly clashed with Kohli in the RCB nets, admitted that watching the Indian batsman dismantle the bowling attack was hardly a new experience.

“Yeah, it was a bit annoying wasn’t it?” Duffy joked during the post-match press conference.

“Small targets like that, when you get a guy coming out with that much intent to knock it down, it can break up the chase pretty easily. And he’s a pretty good guy to do that, pretty impressive, isn’t he?”

The New Zealand quick was particularly impressed how comfortably Kohli dealt with the bounce on offer at Eden Park. Kohli, rather than allowing the short pitched deliveries to worry him, used them to his advantage, combining his pull and hook shots with the ability to hit straight down the ground.

“He didn’t struggle with the rebound. He got in those hook shots, got the shots out and then he could knock you down. No wonder he’s a good player. He’s done that for a lot of years and he did that to me a lot in the Bangalore nets,” Duffy said.

NO WEAKNESS TO EXPLOIT

The 32-year-old wondered if Kohli would have approached the innings differently had India batted first and set a target instead of chasing it. However, Duffy was reluctant to reveal too much about what he learned from their time together at RCB.

“If they’re batting first or there’s a bigger score on the board, it would be interesting to see if he plays like that. I’m not sure, I don’t know if he will,” he said.

“I won’t divulge all their scouting tips. I’ve picked up some information on the networks in Bangalore, but to be fair there aren’t many holes in his game.”

Duffy added that Kohli’s ability to use the pace of the ball, especially on smaller pitches, makes him difficult to control.

“Small pitches like that, he uses pace really well and then he can hit you over the head. So there’s not a lot of holes in the man’s game,” he added.

KIWI PACERS FIGHT

Duffy also acknowledged that the New Zealand bowlers they had little room for error after their batting unit was dismissed for 185. India’s pace attack led by Arshdeep Singh (4/70) and Gurnoor Brar (3/44) used the bounce brilliantly to trouble the hosts.

“180 at Eden Park is never going to be enough. Obviously I think they bowled really well. They’ve got some big guys in that bowling team and they use the bounce off the surface really well,” Duffy said.

New Zealand managed to grab five wickets in India’s chase to reduce the visitors to 136/5, but the damage had already been done by Kohli and Shubman Gill who added 113 for the second wicket.

Duffy admitted the late wickets came too late to change the result but insisted New Zealand would not back down in the remaining matches.

“There’s still a lot to gain. We’ve shown our intent with the series. We’re not going to back down, we’re going to go hard against those guys and show what we’ve got,” he said.

The defeat also brought the conditions into focus, with Duffy admitting batting second had its benefits after rain added moisture to the surface. He felt the ball slid more easily under the lights, making it difficult for the New Zealand bowlers to replicate the bounce they got earlier.

New Zealand will now look to adjust their approach for the remaining games, but Duffy’s assessment of Kohli offered a reminder of the challenge ahead.

Despite having the advantage of being bowled in the RCB nets, the Kiwi pacer believes that finding a weakness in the Indian star’s game is not an easy task.

– The end