Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli failed to make a mark on his highly-anticipated return to international cricket for the first time since March 2025.

Featuring in the first ODI against Australia at Perth, Kohli bagged his first duck in the 50-over format Down Under.

Australia’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc got the better of Kohli, who perished once again while chasing a big drive away from his body. The thick outside edge of his bat flew to backward point, where Cooper Connolly grabbed an excitement acrobatic catch.

Despite Kohli’s failure in the series opener, his name was up for discussion during the post-match presser.

India pacer Arshdeep Singh addressed the media conference, where he called sharing the dressing room with Kohli a blessing and backed former India skipper to bounce back in the remaining two matches of the series.

“He has played more than 300 matches for India, so form is just a word for him," Arshdeep told reporters. “He knows how to get going. It is always like a blessing to be in the same dressing room with him, and going forward I feel there’ll be a lot of runs for him in this series as well."

Having retired from T20Is and Tests, Virat Kohli has now become one-format player. However, Arshdeep remained cautious when asked about Kohli’s feelings on playing just one format. “….talking about the format he is playing, he has mastered this one. So I don’t know how he feels about it. I will ask him about his feelings, and maybe tell you in the next press conference."

The left-arm seamer, still new to Shubman Gill’s style of white-ball captaincy, expects the young skipper to be a bowlers’ captain like his predecessors Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

“I have played very less ODIs, so I can’t tell the difference yet, but I would say both of them (Kohli & Rohit) were proper bowlers’ captains. They gave you proper freedom and even today Shubman, he backed whatever plans we had, and he said, bowl freely to your plans and just enjoy the moment," Arshdeep said.

“We knew we didn’t have that many runs, but we just wanted to express ourselves, that was his message."

India suffered a heavy seven-wicket defeat in the rain-marred first ODI against Australia. Arshdeep mentioned that the Optus Stadium track was good, but frequent rain interruptions affected their chances of building some momentum.

“If you spend time on this wicket, then the runs were coming, but it was very important to spend time on the wicket whoever was set. We saw the partnership between KL and Axar," Arshdeep said.

“But with frequent stoppages, it became very difficult for the batter to maintain concentration. And the credit also goes to Australian bowlers. They bowled in very good areas, they got a lot of help from the wicket," he remarked.

(With inputs from Agencies)