Hard-fought fifties from Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and cameos from Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh in the back end push India to close on 264/9 after early setbacks against Australia in the second ODI at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Since lifting the Champions Trophy on March 9, Virat returned to the international circuit at Perth's Optus Stadium on Sunday for the first time in more than six months.
Stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh acknowledged that the weather played its part in Australia's seven-wicket win (DLS method) against India during the rain-curtailed series opener in Perth at the Optus Stadium.
The return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Ro-Ko) fell flat, and frequent rain-breaks dampened the excitement, reducing the amount of action as Aussie stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh top-scored with 46* in Australia's successful run-chase of 131 runs well before 26 overs at Perth on Sunday.
Since the start of 2023, KL has had a fine record against Australia in ODIs, scoring 495 runs in 10 matches and innings at an average of 82.50 and a strike rate of over 86, with five fifties and a best score of 97*.
While an underwhelming show by top-order, Rohit Sharma (8), Shubman Gill (10), Virat Kohli (0) and Shreyas Iyer (11) put India in trouble at 45/4, it was KL (38 in 31 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Axar's (31 in 38 balls, with three fours) 39-run stand that provided some stability.
The Indian cricket team had an intense fielding session on Saturday, followed by nets and batting drills, ahead of the first ODI against Australia, which will kick off on Sunday in Perth.
Former cricketer-turned commentator Aakash Chopra prophesied India's final XI for the ODI series opener against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday and surprisingly omitted a couple of key starters.
New Delhi [India], October 15: India's leading dog food brand PEDIGREE® from Mars Petcare has joined forces with India's most admired cricketers KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav (SKY) for their ongoing campaign that raises awareness about the complete and balanced nutritional needs of do
The Indian men's team on Wednesday morning boarded the plane for Australia from the national capital ahead of the pulsating white-ball tour, scheduled to commence later this week.
Shubman Gill basked in his first series win as Test captain after India swept the series away with a 2-0 scoreline after KL Rahul engineered a flamboyant 58* to take the hosts to a seven-wicket win with consummate ease at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.