India lost the first ODI to Australia in Perth by 7 wickets via DLS method.
India lost the rain-affected first ODI in Perth as they were asked to bat first and managed 136/9 in 26 overs as KL Rahul made 38 and Axar Patel made 31. In response, Mitchell Marsh made 46*, and Josh Phillippe made 37 as Australia won the match by 7 wickets via the DLS method.
Kris Srikkanth has questioned the logic behind his not batting at No. 4 or No. 5.
“I said this yesterday (before the 1st ODI)—play KL at No. 4 and Shreyas at No. 5. I found the team composition appalling. And first and foremost, why would you send Axar Patel ahead of Rahul?
Classy ‘Rolls Royce’ Rahul was the one who scored today too. He scores and averages well at No. 4 and No. 5. In the 2019 World Cup, he opened the innings and played No. 4 and No. 5 as required. He has made centuries, too. Axar Patel being promoted ahead of Rahul is just appalling. It is absolute rubbish," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
His son Aniruddha reminded him that Axar too played a decent hand; the 1983 World Cup winner responded, “That’s not the point. You have one of the best in the world in that position at your disposal. Axar is a fantastic player in his own right."
“See, you are aware of the fact that this isn’t the strongest Australian side. They had Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but beyond tha,t they did not have a fearsome bowling attack. Kuhnemann did a brilliant job, but on paper, beyond Starc and Hazlewood, they have no one. (So) KL should have come at No. 5," he added.
Srikkanth said if it were up to him, KL would bat at No. 4.
“If I were in charge, I would have played him at No. 4. No. 6 is unacceptable. You could give me any explanation. Rahul is a world-class player, and he should be playing the maximum number of balls. Axar did well, but Rahul made up the strike after one point. I’m not blaming Axar; I’m just saying Rahul should have come at No. 5.
At the end, when we realized that we wouldn’t be able to play the complete overs, he (Rahul) went for scoring runs out of desperation all of a sudden. The overs were being reduced due to the rain, and it was knocked down to 26 overs all of a sudden," he added.
When India was reduced to 27/3 in the first 10 overs, Srikkanth believed the match was over, even though the Indian innings was unable to gain any pace due to the frequent interruptions.
“You could point to the rain as a reason, but in my opinion, the match was done in the first 10 overs. Even if you had played a complete 50-over game, it would have taken a lot of time to build partnerships. Frankly, had India put up 150-160, things would’ve become difficult for Australia. The partnership between Axar and KL got them to a decent position. Had we scored 150-160 in 26 overs, the DLS method would have added runs to them. But since we lost 9 wickets in 26 overs, DLS took away 5 runs from them," Srikkanth concluded.
The second ODI between Australia and India will be played in Adelaide on October 23.