Sunil Gavaskar Makes Bold Statement on Rohit and Kohli for Next 2 ODIs

Sunil Gavaskar has made some bold claims for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after the first ODI match. With both of them failing to perform well, Gavaskar has backed them for the next two games. He also expects them to score big in the next two games.

1. RoKo in First ODI

First, Rohit Sharma lost his wicket to Josh Hazlewood after scoring 8 runs off 14 balls. Later, Virat Kohli stepped in to bat, and fans anticipated him to score well, noting the fact that Australia is his second home ground. But Kohli registered his first ever duck in Australia, to Mitchell Starc in the match.

This was for the first time in a long period, when both of them failed to perform well while batting in the top order. Moreover, the game didn't go well for the entire Indian team as well, as they scored just 136 runs in 26 overs. Australia had gotten the target of 131 runs, through the DLS method.

2. Gavaskar’s Statements

Following RoKo’s failure to score well in the first ODI, fans criticised them a lot. Some questions were even raised on the selection committee along with the Indian Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir. Amidst all this, former Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar decided to step up in their favour.

It seems to be true, as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have played their first ODI match since the last 7 months. Being out of action for a long period of time could bring such ups and downs in the first game. With both of them spending time in the nets, it might help them to bring out some big scores in the next two games.

3. India and Australia’s Last Clash at Adelaide

This decision didn't help the team in the early stages of the game. With quick wickets, the team stood at 26/2 within 8 overs. At this point, Shaun Marsh performed well along with the middle order batsmen to help the team reach a competitive score. Marsh scored 131 runs off 123 balls, and Maxwell scored 48 runs off 37 balls, which helped Australia to score 298 runs in this game.

For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone with the ball, along with Mohammed Shami. Bhuvneshwar took 4 wickets, as Shami took 3, dominating the Australian batsmen. In the chase, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave a good start to the team, putting them at a score of 47/1, within 7.4 overs.

After Dhawan lost his wicket, the team's skipper, Virat Kohli came to the crease. Kohli went on to score 104 runs off 112 balls, which gave India the upper hand in the chase. As he lost his wicket, MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik took the command for the remaining runs.

Dhoni ended up scoring 55 runs off 54 balls, while Karthik scored 25 runs off 14 balls with just two fours. This helped India to chase down the total of 6 wickets and 4 balls remaining. Moreover, India went on to win the final match of the series, winning its first and only bilateral ODI series in Australia.