The much-awaited return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in India Blues didn’t go as planned, as the two bona fide white-ball legends endured a poor start in the Australia series. During the first ODI played at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Sunday, Rohit fell after scoring just eight runs while Virat was dismissed for a duck, his first no score Down Under as India were defeated comfortably by seven wickets by Mitch Marsh’s side.
Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has attributed these failures to less game time and the demons of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which saw both Rohit and Virat Kohli take retirement from Test cricket after the series.
“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. 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,” said Pathan on his YouTube channel.
“Whenever you tour such countries, it is always better to go early and play some games. It was going to be difficult for India. It was going to be a challenge as the conditions would not be easy. Our bowlers could not get the right lengths. The batters also had trouble with the bounce. If you had played a game or two, these mistakes would not have happened. It is important to think about these things going forward,” he added.
On a surface that aided bowlers and with constant rain interruptions making life tougher for the batters, the Indian top-order failed to withstand quality bowling from the Aussies, with Shubman Gill-led India managing only 136 in 26 overs. Australia romped home in just 21.1 overs.
