Rohit Sharma’s resurgence cannot hide Virat Kohli’s ODI woes against Australia | Cricket News
India didn’t see this one coming. Against an Australia batting lineup deep in transition and without a single familiar match-winner in the middle order, the consensus among fans was that it would be a walk in the park in the ODI series for Shubman Gill’s men. It turned out to be exactly the opposite. The young Aussie batters rode through choppy waters and with a two-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, the series is now wrapped up 2-0. The Indian fans, though, had something to cheer about as Rohit Sharma sprang back to life with a fighting 97-ball 73. But Virat Kohli’s second duck of the series was a serious dampener, and now the sell-out at Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday will be all about the ‘Ro-Ko’ farewell — if not anything else, definitely in Australia. Even as the Aussies chose to leave out the likes of Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, and Marnus Labuschagne — probably allowing them preparation time for the Ashes — they went in with all their top-flight bowlers, barring an injured Pat Cummins. Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Adam Zampa are masters of these conditions, and with medium-pacer Xavier Bartlett too chipping in with the wickets of Shubman Gill (9), Virat Kohli (0), and Washington Sundar, the score ended up being a modest 264. There was a time when it used to be enough. Had Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav been playing, it might still have been, even on Thursday. The Indian bowlers kept chipping in with wickets, but there was no one to hit the knock-out punch when the Aussie rookies built those pockets of resistance. No. 3 Matt Short (74 off 78 balls) did make use of the two lives that he got, while No. 7 Mitchell Owen (36 off 23 balls) ensured that he would attract a lot of interest from IPL franchises. But Cooper Connolly, a 22-year-old southpaw who looked a mess against India during the course of a nine-ball duck as an opener in the Champions Trophy semifinal earlier in the year, was the hero of the day. Mixing caution with aggression, the No. 6 showed superb temperament during the course of his 61 not out off 53 balls to take the Aussies home, even as wickets kept falling around him.Kuldeep, the missing link Kuldeep Yadav was seen obliging selfie hunters long after the game was over. The left-arm wrist spinner would have enjoyed the adulation even more if he had won the game for India. But then, he wasn’t given a chance, yet again. India chose to play with eight batters, with allrounder Nitish Reddy batting at No. 8. Reddy scored a 10-ball 8 and bowled three overs for 24 without a wicket, as Kuldeep sat in the dug-out. The Australian middle order, time and time again, showed their frailties against spin. Against the finger-spin of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, the likes of Matt Renshaw and Alex Carey found ways to get out. But Kuldeep wasn’t there to deal the killer blow on inexperienced Connolly and Owen when they were running away with the game during the course of their 59-run sixth-wicket partnership.Aussie bowling brilliance While India’s lack of teeth in bowling at the crunch became a point of discussion, it was the Aussie attack that stole the show in the first couple of hours. Hazlewood (0-29) probably bowled the best spell of his life where he didn’t get a wicket. Hitting the right length, which had the batsmen guessing whether to go forward or back, the paceman made life miserable for Rohit. With the runs completely drying up against Hazlewood, Gill had to take a chance against Bartlett, but he was caught superbly at mid-off by Mitchell Marsh. In the same over, the pacer removed Kohli with a little off-cutter, and India were 17-2 in the seventh over. There was a fightback, courtesy Rohit and Shreyas Iyer (61 off 77 balls), but then it was over to Adam Zampa (4-60). The leggie, with his subtle variations of pace and turn, removed Iyer, a top player of spin. Axar Patel and KL Rahul are equally good, and had any one of them been there till the end, India could easily have pushed for 300.
