Virat Kohli’s record in Auckland: How the India talisman has performed at Eden Park in all formats originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Virat Kohli begins India‘s ODI series against New Zealand at Eden Park on November 4.
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He averages 19.66 in ODIs at the ground, his leanest return at any venue in the country.
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His 67 in the 2014 Test is his highest score at Eden Park in any format.
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Few grounds have resisted Virat Kohli the way Eden Park has. He has scored 596 runs in ODIs in New Zealand at an average close to 50, a tally that places him among the most productive visiting batters the country has seen, and almost none of it has come in Auckland.
Kohli has played three ODIs, two T20Is and one Test at the ground, spread between February 2014 and January 2020. India have not played a Test there since that 2014 visit.
He returns on Wednesday for the first of five ODIs, having retired from Tests and T20Is to focus on the format ahead of the 2027 World Cup. Kohli skipped batting and fielding drills in Auckland on Monday after completing a gym session.
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A format-by-format breakdown of his numbers at the ground.
|
Format |
Matches |
Innings |
Runs |
Highest score |
Average |
Hundreds |
|
ODI |
3 |
3 |
59 |
38 |
19.66 |
0 |
|
T20I |
2 |
2 |
56 |
45 |
28.00 |
0 |
|
Test |
1 |
2 |
71 |
67 |
35.50 |
0 |
Three innings have brought 59 runs at an average of 19.66 and a strike rate of 63.44, with six fours and not a single six. Both the aggregate and the strike rate are the lowest he has recorded at any New Zealand venue where he has batted more than once.
His first visit came on January 25, 2014, when he made 6 from 20 balls before being caught. That was the middle of a tour on which he scored 123 at Napier, so the Auckland failure was an outlier rather than a trend at the time.
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His best at the ground came against Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup on March 14, when he made 38 from 48 balls with four fours in a 71-minute stay. It remains the only Eden Park ODI he has played against a side other than New Zealand.
The most recent was on February 8, 2020, when he was bowled for 15 from 25. He arrives this week four runs short of 600 in ODIs in the country, a mark only Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin have passed among Indians.
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He played twice at the ground, both in January 2020, and the first of those is comfortably his best innings there in any white-ball format. Chasing 204 on January 24, Kohli made 45 from 32 balls with three fours and a six, adding 99 for the second wicket with KL Rahul before Blair Tickner’s leg cutter found Martin Guptill at the boundary.
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Two days later he lasted 12 balls. Kohli made 11 and edged Tim Southee behind to Tim Seifert in the sixth over, though India chased 133 comfortably enough to win by seven wickets.
He was busier in the field than at the crease across the pair. Kohli took a diving catch at extra cover to remove Colin Munro, held Guptill off Shardul Thakur and caught Kane Williamson off Yuzvendra Chahal in the first match.
With his T20I retirement confirmed after the 2024 World Cup, those 56 runs are where the record closes.
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His only Test at the ground, in February 2014, produced the two extremes of his Eden Park career. In the first innings, he lasted 13 balls, caught by Peter Fulton off Southee for 4 as India slipped to 10 for 3 in reply to New Zealand’s 503.
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The second innings was different. Chasing 407, Kohli made 67 from 102 balls with 12 fours, reaching his fifty from 80 deliveries and sharing a century stand with Shikhar Dhawan that took India to 180 for 2 at lunch on the fourth day.
Neil Wagner eventually had him caught behind by BJ Watling, and India fell 40 runs short at 366 all out. The 67 remains Kohli’s highest score at Eden Park across all three formats.
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The first ODI at Eden Park starts at 3 PM local time on Wednesday, November 4, which is 7:30 AM IST.
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The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports network in India and live-streamed on JioHotstar.
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