Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Disappoint Their Fans At Perth ODI

The legion of fans of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli must be utterly disappointed with their scores in the first of the three-match bash between India and Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday (Oct 19). Clearly not in touch with competitive cricket for seven months (which is over 200 days) after the ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in Dubai, Sharma (8) and Kohli (0) could not get going in the Western Australian city. They may have done their training and practice in order to prepare for their return to the highest class of one-day cricket, but Josh Hazlewood and left arm seamer Mitchell Starc outsmarted them when India was asked to bat by captain Mitchell Marsh upon winning the toss. There was much speculation about Sharma and Kohli selection in the 15-man squad for the three matches rostered at Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. They may not be under pressure at all before the next match at Adelaide on October 23, but India’s Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill will have a tough time picking both in the playing XI at Sydney, should the two batters fail to score heavily at Adelaide. Australia doesn’t have its all-format skipper Pat Cummins, but they still had two extraordinary seamers in Hazlewood and Starc who used the new ball efficiently to eject them from the middle. Sharma and Kohli have retired from the long format Test and Twenty20, but have chosen to play the 50 overs format with the hope of giving themselves another shot at the World Cup in 2027 at South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The national selectors have not committed themselves to pick them for all matches leading to the World Cup that India lost to Australia in the 2023 final in Ahmedabad.