Champions Trophy: Bracewell heaps praise on Kohli as Kiwis gear up for India clash

New Zealand's off-spin bowling all-rounder Michael Bracewell heaped praise on India's star batter Virat Kohli ahead of the final Group A match between the two teams in Dubai on Sunday.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 FEBRUARY

Both teams have already qualified for the semifinals. The match will also mark Virat Kohli's 300th ODI appearance, making him the seventh player to achieve this landmark after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, M.S. Dhoni, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.

"That's obviously a massive achievement. 300 games across a career is very impressive, and then to put that in just one format is amazing. It's a testament to the way that he's gone about his career," Bracewell told the media. "I saw it first-hand at RCB - how he prepared for each match, and it's very impressive. He's one of a number of class players in the Indian line-up, and they've all played a lot of cricket now.

So, they're going to be a challenging team to come up against, but we're really excited about that challenge."