India, Jan. 12 -- Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill had barely settled into their first partnership of 2026 when a familiar question landed in the commentary box: What does the next generation take from India's modern great?

It was the opening match of the three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand in Vadodara, and the visuals were the point in themselves - Shubman Gill, the captain, sharing the middle with Kohli, the benchmark.

As the duo settled in at the Kotambi Stadium, Harsha Bhogle tossed it to Ravi Shastri and got a sharp, old-school breakdown of why Kohli's excellence starts long before a match.

Shastri didn't talk about batlifts, trigger movements, or which balls to leave. He went straight to the stuff that doesn't show u...