Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Indian batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made a subdued return to international cricket, falling for low scores in the opening ODI of the three-match series against Australia at the near sell out Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Following their retirement from Test and T20I formats, the first of three ODIs in Australia was highly anticipated, marking the return of former India skippers Kohli and Rohit. However, the duo failed to make an impact, setting a cautious tone for India’s innings in the series opener.
While fans at the stadium rose to applaud the duo as they entered the field, silence enveloped the venue upon their dismissals.
Opening the batting for India alongside newly appointed captain Shubman Gill, after being put to bat first, Rohit was dismissed in the fourth over, scoring just eight runs off 14 deliveries as Josh Hazlewood got his side the first breakthrough.
It wasn’t Rohit’s day, but everyone expected Kohli to rise to the occasion, as he has almost always done in Australia, a place he enjoys playing cricket.
However, the Indian team was handed another blow as the 36-year-old top-order batter walked back without even opening his account. Kohli’s struggle with the bat ended as he departed for an eight-ball duck, courtesy of a pitched-up outside off delivery by Mitch Marsh.
In no time, Team India were three down as Nathan Ellis got the better of the opposition skipper. Gill, who started his innings well and found the gap for a couple of boundaries, walked back to the dugout for a poor score of an 18-ball 10.
Walking out to bat in what is his first ODI as the leader of the pack, Gill looked to flick a back-of-a-length ball on leg but ended up getting a faint tickle. With that, he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Josh Philippe as the hosts got a third wicket before the end of the first powerplay.
As a result, India’s top three were back in the hut, with Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel taking the field, hoping to anchor the innings.
Walking out to bat in what is his first ODI as the leader of the pack, Gill looked to flick a back-of-a-length ball on leg but ended up getting a faint tickle. With that, he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Josh Philippe as the hosts got a third wicket before the end of the first powerplay.
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With both being on the wrong side of 30 and having only IPL and ODI game time, their hopes of representing India one last time in the World Cup and making the squad depend on their performance in the tournament's build-up.