Sydney: It’s hard to find context in an ODI bilateral series with no major events scheduled in that format for the next two years. But that’s the space both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma exist in right now. Having become one format players for the national team and with the 50-over World Cup remaining an itch both want to scratch for one last time in 2027, every match becomes an event in and of itself.
It’s why the ongoing three-match 50-over series Down Under may, in hindsight, be known as the farewell tour for two giants of Indian sports. It certainly looked like one for Kohli when he raised his hand to acknowledge the cheers of the largely Indian crowd at Adelaide after his dismissal for a second consecutive zero. He was caught in front and after a quick consultation with Sharma in the middle — because that’s how these things work — Kohli made the long walk back.
Adelaide, in essence, made Kohli. It was here in 2014 that the then-young captain made two 100s in both innings of a Test. His 141, in the fourth innings, put in place the foundations for the kind of cricket his team came to play under him. That gesture fuelled talk of an announcement in the coming days but Kohli’s body of work is such that he surely has more goodwill in the bank. If there’s an announcement, it will be on his own terms, that’s much is pretty clear. Chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, made it very clear that what he does in Australia will have little bearing the next time his employers sit down to pick the ODI squad.
If Kohli was done in by a slightly spicy pitch early on thanks to some residual moisture, Sharma was the beneficiary of some much-needed luck going his way. His intentions were pretty clear: stick to the template of trying to launch balls over the infield to capitalise on the field restrictions. But considering he was beaten multiple times and in various ways — outside edge while defending, inside edge while defending and outside edge while trying to hit the ball aerially over the in-field.
So to label this knock as a throwback would be slightly erroneous but there were some tight Test match leaves. In fact, Josh Hazlewood — more like Hazlegod as the nickname goes — bowled two successive maidens at the opener. The 38-year-old did try to be proactive but some of the deliveries were just too good to be nicked as the old adage goes.
Sharma could have been out a few times but once he survived the period, he opened up. His first 30 runs came off 62 balls but as soon as the bowlers were changed, his blade began to grow. Off Mitchell Owen’s first over, he twice pulled him for six in a style the cricketing world has been so accustomed to. When the spinners came on, he was happy to sweep or go inside out over cover. Just when he was trying to hit out through the middle overs, he perished to a catch at fine leg off Mitchell Starc. A scratchy innings was stopped in an apt manner but it’s one that will give him some confidence going into Sydney on Saturday.
Sydney could be an important pitstop for the duo before the six ODIs at home over the next few months. For India, though, there will be other learnings too. The continued insistence on batting depth and all-rounders over a genuine wicket-taker in Kuldeep Yadav has seemingly hurt them again. For the hosts, Adam Zampa, one of the foremost white-ball practitioners of the right-arm wristspin, bagged four wickets. Yadav, meanwhile, was left to watch on again.
The likes of Axar Patel propelled India’s score to 264 but on a wicket that had eased up significantly in the night, the hosts got ahead of the curve and won with 22 balls to spare.
Brief scores: India 264/9 in 50 ovs (Rohit 73, Shreyas 61; Bartlett 3/39, Zampa 4/60) lost to Australia 265/8 in 46.2 ovs (Short 74, Connolly 61 n.o; Arshdeep 2/41, Sundar 2/37).
