Last Updated on 7 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey

Concerns continue to swirl around Team India batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after yet another failure in the ongoing five-match ODI series against New Zealand. Kiwi seamer Matt Fisher dismissed the stalwarts for single-figure scores in his back-to-back overs to trigger another top-order collapse in the fifth and final game at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

Rohit’s dismissal came in the sixth over of the innings as he tamely chipped a harmless delivery to short mid-wicket, with Dean Foxcroft taking a simple catch, forcing him to depart for 7 off 13 deliveries. As for Kohli, the 38-year-old threw his hands at a wide delivery in the eighth over and edged it to Tim Seifert, who plucked a stunner. It capped off back-to-back failures for Team India’s mainstay, with Rohit managing scores of 0, 23 and 0 in his three outings. Kohli has slightly better yet underwhelming numbers with scores of 74, 7, 0 and 5.

NZ vs IND, 5th ODI: Reactions on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s failures

With the 2027 World Cup less than a year away, fans have been left concerned about the forms and inconsistent returns of Kohli and Rohit. Here’s how they have reacted on social media:

NZ vs IND, 5th ODI: Axar Patel and Ishan Kishan revive India’s innings

Despite being reduced to 86/4 at one stage, the Men in Blue have retained hopes of setting a competitive target for New Zealand. Stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer was the fourth wicket to fall, departing for 22, bringing an end to a 52-run stand. Axar Patel threw away a promising start to perish for 46, while Naman Dhir became the latest to fall for 22. At the time of writing this, Ishan Kishan was still there at the crease, batting for 31 and India will look up to him to set the hosts a competitive total.

The five-game ODI rubber is currently standing at 2-1 in India‘s favour as the Kiwis hope to avoid a rare home series defeat.