India, Jan. 13 -- India vice-captain Shreyas Iyer lavished praise on Virat Kohli, saying the batting great has been "walking the talk" for years, the latest being his masterclass in a successful run chase against New Zealand in the ODI series opener.

Kohli struck a fluent 93 off 91 balls as India chased down a target of 301 to register a four-wicket win and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber here on Sunday. During the innings, Kohli also became the fastest player to reach 28,000 international runs across formats and the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar.

"Whatever we talk about his innings, it would be less. We have been seeing it for so many years now he's been doing it consistently. The...