India vs New Zealand: Here's what Virat Kohli said about under-fire Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson

Virat Kohli heaped praise on New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson calling him a "very, very smart cricketer" ahead of the five-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series between India and BlackCaps.

Kohli's comments came during a press conference he addressed on the eve of the first match in Auckland.

Williamson has been under fire since New Zealand's whitewash in a three-match Test series in Australia. He then suffered a hip injury that forced him out of the home T20I series against England, which the Kiwis ended up losing 3-2.

Ahead of the first T20I between India and New Zealand at Eden Park, Kohli was quizzed in regards to his counterpart's captaincy skills. The Indian skipper replied," I don't think leadership can always be determined by the results. It's also about how you can get the team together and get the guys functioning under you as well, which I think Kane has done wonderfully well.

He has the respect of his teammates and he has the trust of his teammates, is what I can see, and he's also a very, very smart cricketer."

Kohli further explained that when a team is outplayed by another team in a match, all they can do is accept it as a collective failure, look for solutions and try to recover in the future.

"If a team outplays you, you have to accept it as a collective failure, and not a lack of leadership or captaincy is what I think.

People get onto that side of things too early and sometimes I think it is better to let the individual decide himself. If you have given him the responsibility, I am sure he will decide whether he is good enough for the job any more or not as well," he added.

After the first two T20Is at Eden Park, the rest of the matches are in Hamilton's Seddon Park Wellington's Westpac Stadium and Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval.