The much-awaited return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for India’s opening ODI against Australia in Perth left fans disheartened. Australia, winning a crucial toss, elected to field first. This marked India’s sixteenth consecutive ODI toss loss, a streak dating back to their 2023 Champions Trophy semi-final win against New Zealand at Wankhede.
As the match commenced, Australia’s bowlers expertly exploited the lively Perth pitch. Josh Hazlewood delivered a perfectly pitched ball to Rohit Sharma, trapping him, while Mitchell Starc enticed Virat Kohli into an uncharacteristic wide chase, leading to his dismissal for a duck – a first in 30 ODI innings on Australian soil. Shubman Gill showed some initial promise with a few boundaries but was ultimately given out leg before wicket.
Collectively, the top three batsmen contributed a mere 18 runs. This shockingly low total represented India’s poorest top-order performance in a Men’s ODI since their heartbreaking 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
Indeed, the 2019 World Cup semi-final at Old Trafford saw a similar struggle from India’s top three – KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli – who each managed only a single run under immense pressure. Despite a spirited fightback from Ravindra Jadeja (77) and MS Dhoni (50) in the lower order, India ultimately lost that crucial match by 18 runs, effectively ending their World Cup dreams.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.
Currently, in Perth, India finds themselves in a precarious position at 46 for 4. Further complicating matters, persistent rain interruptions have reduced the match to just 32 overs per side.