The Indian cricket team officially landed in Perth during the early hours of October 16th, overcoming multiple travel delays that extended their journey. The squad, led by captain Shubman Gill, had initially departed from Delhi on October 15th, only to face a nearly four-hour flight delay to Australia, which further impacted their schedule in Singapore. The team eventually made it to their hotel around 4 AM.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill (X)
Among the first group of players to arrive in Australia were key figures like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul. Due to strict security measures at Perth airport, fans had limited opportunities to interact with the players, who, after their arduous journey, proceeded directly to their rooms to rest.
India is scheduled to compete against Mitchell Marsh’s Australian side in a three-match ODI series, followed by five T20Is. The ODI matches will be held in Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney. Kohli and Sharma are expected to be the star attractions in the ODI fixtures, marking their return to the format after their impressive unbeaten run in the Champions Trophy, where Rohit Sharma’s 76-run performance in the final earned him the Player of the Match award.
Both Kohli and Sharma are now concentrating solely on ODIs, having retired from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup victory in Barbados, and also stepping away from Test cricket before the England tour. With Shubman Gill at the helm as ODI captain, Rohit Sharma has relinquished his captaincy duties but remains a crucial batsman. Shreyas Iyer will serve as vice-captain, and KL Rahul continues in his role as wicketkeeper-batsman.
The comprehensive ODI squad for the Australia tour includes Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The team’s immediate focus is to excel in the upcoming ODIs before shifting gears towards their T20 World Cup preparations, with the seasoned duo of Kohli and Sharma spearheading India’s white-ball campaign.