IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to action in Perth on Sunday. (PTI)Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be back on the field after a break in which a lot has happened in the Indian men’s cricket team. Among the big news points was Rohit himself, who was stripped of ODI captaincy, with the post being given to Shubman Gill ahead of the Australia tour, but still kept in thr squad. It means that Kohli and Rohit will now be playing three ODIs in Australia under Gill, whom they both had captained in his formative years in international cricket. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Kohli and Rohit will be both be quite hungry in Australia knowing that they have a number of youngsters vying for their positions in the squad.
The three-match ODI series starts in Perth on Sunday. “I mean, this is a good side, a very good side. India are a far better white ball side than Test match side,” Shastri said on Fox Cricket. “And especially (with) the young guns, the Australian crowds, they (will) love seeing some of the young guns. A lot of the young players who are in the side, they will entertain.
“Plus, the old dogs are here. Rohit Sharma is here. Virat Kohli too. They know that these youngsters are pushing so you might just see the best out of them. That’s why they’re here. They’re part of the mix but, again, form is crucial,” he said.
Rohit and Kohli both retired from Test cricket earlier this year in the days leading up to India’s epic five-Test tour of England. They had both struggled for form in the preceding five-match Test series in Australia, with Rohit especially losing his to the extent that he dropped himself from the squad for the final Test. However, the fact remains that both Rohit and Kohli are among the all-time greats in ODI cricket and the former’s last act as India captain in the format was leading them to victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
“But there’s no substitute for experience when it comes to the big games, as we saw in the Champions Trophy,” said Shastri. “Come the big games, the big boys step up, so it’ll be interesting (to see what happens). (They) have to prove something, because they have the young guns nipping at their heels.”
Rohit has played 30 ODIs in Australia and scored 1328 runs at an average of 53.12 with five centuries and four half-centuries. Kohli, meanwhile, has 1327 runs in Australia at an average of 51.03 in 29 ODIs with five centuries and six half-centuries. “But they love playing in Australia. They have played some of the best white ball cricket and Test cricket in Australia. I think they’ll be out there. And they’ve not played for a while. They’ve retired from the other formats of the game, so that hunger will be there,” said Shastri.
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