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PERTH: India batting maestro Virat Kohli return to international cricket was cut short by Australia ace pacer Mitchell Starc, who bowled a terrific delivery to send the right-hander back for a duck in the first ODI here on Sunday.
After opting to bat first, India did not have the best of a start as returning Rohit Sharma perished for just eight from 14 balls.
As a result, the visitors were 13-1 at the end of the fourth over with Virat Kohli coming at his long-occupied No. 3 spot.
The right-hander’s much-awaited return was highly anticipated; however, he could not open his account after playing eight deliveries and was caught at backward point.
Notably, this was Virat Kohli’s first duck on Australian soil in 65 matches played from 2011 to 2025. Overall, the right-hander has scored 3616 runs at a stellar average of 51.65 with 11 centuries and 19 fifties to his name.
Yet, India set Australia a 137-run target in a match reduced to 26 overs per side, courtesy of KL Rahul and Axar Patel’s 39-run stand, which lifted the visitors out of trouble.
Rahul made 38 from 31 balls with the aid of two sixes and two fours, whereas Patel struck three fours on his way to 31 from 38 balls.
For Australia, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, and Josh Hazlewood scalped two wickets each.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh.
Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Josh Hazlewood.
READ: Did Starc break Shoaib Akhtar’s record for world’s fastest delivery?
