 "Rohit looked a bit troubled, demons of BGT back for Virat: Ex-India all-rounder on Ro-Ko's flop show in Perth")
Former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli endured a forgettable return to international cricket after seven months on Sunday after they were dismissed for scores and 8 and 0 respectively in the first ODI against Australia in Perth.
The ongoing-three match ODI series between India and Australia has been marketed around the return of the two stalwarts and their struggles against senior pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will have disappointed millions of fans back home and around the world.
Fitness not quite the same as game time, says Pathan
Reacting to their early dismissals on Sunday, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan felt that while lack of game time did have an impact on Rohit’s performance, the demons of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy had returned to haunt Kohli. Pathan, however, praised KL Rahul and Axar Patel for their fighting knocks of 38 and 31 respectively though it did not prevent the Men in Blue from getting overpowered by their opponents in the end.
“Fitness is one thing and game time is one thing. That is why Rohit looked a bit troubled. It looked like the demons of the BGT were back for Virat. I hope this is not the case in Adelaide and Sydney,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel, reacting to India’s seven-wicket defeat against the defending ODI world champions.
“KL Rahul batted well today. Shreyas Iyer got into an awkward position. Maybe he can work a bit more on his technique. Axar does well whenever he gets an opportunity to bat ahead,” he added.
Also Read | Identical scores, unequal stakes: How Rohit and Kohli’s returns told two different stories
While Rohit was caught at slip off Hazlewood’s bowling, Kohli departed for an eight-ball duck after poking at a wide delivery from Starc, with Cooper Connolly collecting a superb catch at backward point.
Shubman Gill, who had recently replaced Rohit as ODI captain after succeeding him in the Test format as well, did not last long either as he was caught-behind off Nathan Ellis’ bowling for 10, with India getting reduced to 25/3 inside the powerplay. Shreyas Iyer, recently elevated to the role of vice-captain couldn’t get going either as he fell for 11 amid a series of rain breaks in Perth.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThanks to Rahul and Axar’s knocks as well as debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy’s cameo of 19 not out off 11 deliveries, India finished on 136/9 in the match that was reduced to 26 overs per side due to rain.
And while the Aussies lost the wicket of opener Travis Head (8) early, they got home comfortably in the end thanks to captain Mitchell Marsh’s unbeaten 46 as well as important contributions from Josh Philippe (37) and Matt Renshaw (21 not out).
India will be aiming to level the series ahead of the ODI series finale on Sydney on Saturday when they meet the Australians, who are without regular ODI captain Pat Cummins, in the second game in Adelaide on Thursday.
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