Indian veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were dismissed cheaply by the Australian pace attack in the first ODI in Perth on Sunday, October 19, 2025.
Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to field first, and his team struck early to dominate the visitors.
Rohit Sharma opened the innings alongside Indian captain Shubman Gill. In the fourth over, Josh Hazlewood bowled a probing spell, delivering a hard-length ball with extra bounce that nibbled away slightly. Rohit attempted a poke at the delivery but ended up edging it to second slip, where Matt Renshaw took a neat catch with a reverse cup.
Shortly after, Virat Kohli faced his first ball from Mitchell Starc in the next over, after playing a maiden over before this over. The ball was pitched up outside off, and Kohli chased it for a big drive away from his body. He got a thick outside edge, and Cooper Connolly dived to his left at backward point to complete a brilliant catch. Within the first seven overs, India had lost both of their legendary batters.
This marked Kohli’s first duck in 30 ODI innings in Australia, while Starc became the second bowler to dismiss him for a duck twice in ODIs, joining James Anderson, who has dismissed him twice across all internationals. India found themselves struggling at 25 for 3 in 8.5 overs, and rain then temporarily halted play.
Nathan Ellis struck back by dismissing the Indian captain in his first over. A length ball angling down the leg saw Gill inside-edge the delivery to the wicketkeeper, Josh Philippe, who took a clean catch. With the stakes high, India will now look to recover with Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel at the crease as they attempt to steady the innings and post a competitive total.
