On Sunday, October 19, the Indian cricket team kickstarted their tour of Australia with the first ODI, being played at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Coming into the series after lifting the Men’s Asia Cup
2025 and clean sweeping West Indies 2-0 at home, the Men in Blue have aimed to regroup with the highly-anticipated return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
While the duo made a return after last featuring in Indian colours in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai, their return wasn’t the one which was expected as they were dismissed cheaply. Former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma fell to Josh Hazlewood after scoring eight off 14 deliveries, Virat Kohli departed on an eight-ball duck.
Virat Kohli welcomed amidst loud cheers at Optus Stadium in Perth; video goes viral
Seeing the duo not make a mark on their return to field after 223 days, they were welcomed with loud cheers as they took the field for the first time in almost seven months. Talking the crease after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal in the fourth over, which was bowled by Hazlewood, Virat Kohli received a rousing reception at the Optus Stadium.
While it was a moment to cherish for everyone seeing the veteran batter return to field, he was dismissed after a short stay. Facing Mitchell Starc in the seventh over, Kohli opted to chase the outside off delivery but was caught by Cooper Connolly at backward point, handing India their second wicket which left them reeling at 21/2.
Australia vs India 1st ODI Playing XI
Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
India: 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
