Rohit scored 8 and Kohli made 0 in their ODI return for India against Australia in Perth.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who made their India comeback after seven months, scored 8 and 0, respectively. India lost the first ODI in Perth and is 0-1 down in the series. The second ODI will be played in Adelaide on October 23.
Ricky Ponting, the renowned batter and former captain of Australia, seems unconcerned with the forgettable performance in Perth.
Ponting, who won two ODI World Cups as Australia captain, urged Rohit and Kohli to recover. It will only be a matter of time, he said, until Rohit and Kohli are among the runs once more, and that might happen as soon as the next ODI in Adelaide against Australia.
“Finding your rhythm and tempo is the biggest thing. When you’ve had a break, just getting back used to the rhythm and the tempo of the 50-over game again takes a little bit of time for anybody. I’d expect to see both those guys bounce back into it pretty quickly,” Ponting stated on ICC Review show.
“As I said, Adelaide is a great place to bat and a great place to play cricket. But it won’t be easy for the fact that they are facing some of the best white-ball bowlers that have ever played the game. So, the challenge is definitely there. But I say it all the time: you don’t write off champion players ever.
And these two guys have been two of the best, and while I’m on record saying I think Virat’s the best 50-over player I’ve ever seen, you don’t write them off. They’ll find a way to contribute and win games for their team, and if they do that, then they’ll most likely be in that World Cup team in 2027,” he added.
Virat Kohli will be most excited to play in Adelaide, where he has an amazing record with the bat across formats. The last time Kohli played in Adelaide in 2019, he scored 104 in India’s six-wicket win.