Kohli dismissed for zero, 'hitman' stumbles; India off to poor start against Aussies in Perth ODI

PERTH: Indian fans were left aghast after star players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stumbled early in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. Both former Indian captains returned to the crease after a small hiatus but failed to find their usual flair with the bat. Captain Shubman Gill was dismissed for 10 runs off 18 balls. India were reeling at 25/3 in 9 overs when play was stopped due to rain.

Axar Patel and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer are at the crease. Rohit Sharma (8) was dismissed by Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood. Virat Kohli, who faced eight balls, was dismissed by Mitchell Starc without scoring a single run. Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to field first.

India has included three all-rounders and three pacers in the playing XI. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are the all-rounders. Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Harshid Rana have been included in the team as pacers.