India’s experienced duo, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, endured a disappointing return to international cricket as both were dismissed cheaply in the first ODI against Australia in Perth on Sunday, October 19, 2025. After Australian captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl, his pace attack delivered an early blow that left India reeling in the opening overs.
Early Strikes by Australian Pacers
Rohit Sharma began the innings alongside skipper Shubman Gill, but his stay at the crease was cut short in the fourth over. Facing Josh Hazlewood, Rohit nicked a hard-length delivery that seamed away slightly, and Matt Renshaw took a sharp catch at second slip.
“𝑯𝒂𝒛𝒍𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇-𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒑,” 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
Just an over later, Virat Kohli was undone by Mitchell Starc. The left-arm pacer tempted Kohli with a full delivery outside off, and the Indian stalwart went for an expansive drive only to edge it to Cooper Connolly, who completed a superb catch at backward point. It marked Kohli’s first duck in 30 ODI innings on Australian soil, with Starc becoming the second bowler after James Anderson to dismiss him for a duck twice in ODIs.
India Struggles as Top Order Collapses
India’s troubles deepened as Nathan Ellis dismissed captain Shubman Gill in his very first over. Gill attempted to glance a delivery down leg but managed only an inside edge, safely pouched by Josh Philippe behind the stumps.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕,” 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚.
At the time of the rain interruption, India were in serious trouble at 25 for 3 in 8.5 overs, with Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel tasked with the rebuilding job. With both Rohit and Kohli back in the pavilion, India will need a strong middle-order effort to post a competitive total in challenging Perth conditions.
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