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In the first India-Australia ODI at Optus Stadium on Sunday, Rohit scored 8 runs from 14 balls, and Kohli failed to open his account.
Sunil Gavaskar makes bold prediction for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played their first match for India after more than seven months on Sunday (October 19) in Perth against Australia but could only manage to score 8 and 0 runs, respectively. Indian fans had high hopes from the legendary batting duo, but they were far from their best. But despite their forgetful outing in Perth, former India batter and captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed the duo and said that it won’t be a surprise to see them do well in the remaining two matches.
“They were playing on probably the bounciest pitch in Australia. It wasn’t going to be easy, especially for players who haven’t played international cricket for a couple of months. It was challenging for Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who usually play international cricket quite regularly,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“India are still a very, very good team. They have won the Champions Trophy. Don’t be surprised if Rohit and Kohli score big in the next two games. They are coming back after a few months away from international cricket. The more they play, the more time they spend in the nets, and the more throwdowns they get, maybe even from the reserve bowlers bowling at them from 20 years instead of 22, the quicker they will find their rhythm. Once they are back among the runs, India’s total will be 300, 300-plus,” he added.
Virat Kohli has a very good batting record in Adelaide, which is set to host the second ODI between the two teams on Thursday (October 23). Kohli scored twin centuries at Adelaide Oval on his Test captaincy debut in December 2014, and his first Test century also came at the same venue. In ODIs, he scored a century at Adelaide Oval during India’s 2015 World Cup opener against Pakistan.
Rohit, on the other hand, has scored 131 runs in six ODIs played so far at Adelaide Oval.
During the second ODI, Rohit will have a chance to become the first player to score 1000 runs in India-Australia ODIs in Australia. As of now he has 998 runs to his credit in 20 matches. Kohli is second on the list with 802 runs in 19 ODIs.
October 20, 2025, 07:50 IST
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