Rohit

Mitchell Marsh powered Australia to ODI victory against India as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed in their return to international cricket.

Australia’s stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international (ODI) at Perth Stadium.

India limped to 136-9 from 26 overs, interrupted four times by rain, setting Australia a revised target of 131 which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs.

The sea of blue in the 42,423-strong crowd did not have to wait long to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India were put into bat.

Having retired from the game’s other formats with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, the former captains made their return to national duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March.

Neither looked convincing against Australia’s pace bowlers, with Rohit edging Josh Hazlewood to second slip on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for a duck.

“All of their batters are world-class and legends of the game,” said spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who picked up 2-26. “In one-day cricket, especially, to get wickets up front makes a massive difference.”

India captain Gill out cheaply

New one-day skipper Shubman Gill was dismissed for 10 when he tickled seamer Nathan Ellis to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 when light drizzle halted play for two hours.

The crowd applauded sarcastically when the covers were removed, then in earnest when Shreyas Iyer (11) slashed Hazlewood to the fence. The bowler got his revenge in his next over, however, as Philippe took another leg-side catch.

Kuhnemann and medium-pacer Mitch Owen kept up the pressure and halted any momentum Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38) generated, although Nitish Kumar Reddy brought some excitement with a rapid 19 off 11 balls.

Deputising for Pat Cummins, whose Ashes hopes remain uncertain due to a back injury, man-of-the-match Marsh kick-started Australia’s reply by bludgeoning three sixes, carrying over impressive form against South Africa and New Zealand.

Philippe, playing his first ODI since 2021 due to the absence of Josh Inglis and Alex Carey, supported his skipper with an aggressive 37 before holing out to Arshdeep Singh in the deep.

Matt Renshaw helped his team home with 21 not out, while Arshdeep, Axar and Washington Sundar claimed one wicket apiece.

“We knew we didn’t have that many runs, but we just wanted to express ourselves,” Arshdeep said.

The series moves to Adelaide on Thursday before concluding in Sydney on Saturday.

Australia completed a comfortable seven-wicket win in a rain-shortened first ODI against India in Perth, with Virat Kohli dismissed for a duck on his international return.

Damp conditions saw the match reduced to 26 overs-a-side, with India eventually posting 136-9 after their innings was halted for rain six times.

The visitors were plagued by regular wickets, with Rohit Sharma and Kohli, both playing their first international match since March, departing inside the powerplay, the latter for an eight-ball duck.

The dismissals of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer saw India slip to 45-4 in the 14th over before KL Rahul, top-scoring with 38, rebuilt his side’s innings alongside Axar Patel (31) and Washington Sundar.

However, the latter’s exit in the 24th over sparked another flurry of wickets, with India losing 4-21.

Josh Hazlewood led the way with the ball, taking 2-20 from seven overs, with Mitchell Owen and Matthew Kuhnemann also taking two wickets.

Australia also lost two powerplay wickets – Travis Head and Matthew Short both dismissed for eight – but made light work of chasing their revised target of 131.

Mitchell Marsh anchored his side’s innings with an unbeaten 46 (52), sharing a 55-run third-wicket partnership with Josh Philippe (37 off 29) before seeing Australia over the line alongside ODI debutant Matt Renshaw (21* off 24) with 29 balls to spare.

The second ODI will take place in Adelaide on Thursday, 23 October.

Test captain Gill takes over the 50-over leadership role ahead of the ODI series against Australia.

Rohit Sharma has been replaced by Shubman Gill as India’s one-day international (ODI) men’s captain, says the country’s cricket board.

Rohit was India’s all-format captain until June 2024 and has been included in India’s 15-man squad for the ODI series against Australia, along with star batter Virat Kohli, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Saturday.

Gill, who took over as the Test captain after Rohit’s retirement from the format in May, will take over the role ahead of the ODI series away in Australia starting on October 19.

Rohit has led India in the ODI format at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in February and March, when his team won the title in the final against New Zealand in Dubai.

The 38-year-old also led India to their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title in 2024 in Barbados, following which he announced his retirement from the 20-over format along with Kohli.

The stalwarts of Indian cricket have also hung up their boots in the longest form of the game following the 2024-25 Test tour of Australia.

Kohli, who turns 37 in November, has also retired from Test cricket.

Suryakumar Yadav replaced Rohit as the T20 international captain in July and led India’s triumphant run at the T20 Asia Cup 2025.

There were no surprises in India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against Australia.

🚨 India’s squad for Tour of Australia announced

Shubman Gill named #TeamIndia Captain for ODIs

The #AUSvIND bilateral series comprises three ODIs and five T20Is against Australia in October-November pic.twitter.com/l3I2LA1dBJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2025

Former captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have shown a “blueprint” for India’s future Test success, says new skipper Shubman Gill.

Batter Gill, 25, was announced as Rohit’s replacement on Saturday after the 38-year-old and modern great Kohli both retired from the format.

Kohli led India to a record 40 wins in 68 Tests while Rohit, who replaced him in 2022, has the next best win percentage as skipper.

“I have always been inspired by the greats and legends of Indian cricket,” Gill said.

“I have been very fortunate to play with so many of them.

“Both were contrasting in terms of their style but inspiring to see them work towards a common goal.”

Gill was appointed skipper ahead of bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who had served as Rohit’s vice-captain.

His first series in charge will be the highly-anticipated five-Test series in England which starts on 20 June.

“I’m looking forward for this exciting opportunity, and I think the upcoming series in England is going to be a very exciting one,” said Gill, who is captain of Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.

“I believe in leading by example, not just by my performance but, off the field, by my discipline and hard work.

“As a captain, a leader should be able to know when to step in, but also when to give space to the players.

“Because everyone has had a different life and grown up differently, everyone has a different personality.”

India were unbeaten in home series throughout Kohli’s time as captain and had significant success away, including series wins in Australia and a 2-2 draw in England.

Under Rohit they reached the final of the 2023 World Test Championship, although they were beaten by Australia and their unbeaten run at home was ended by New Zealand last year.

“Virat was very aggressive and wanting to lead from the front,” Gill said.

“Rohit was also aggressive but you might not see that on his expression.

“He was someone calm and tactically very present. He was very communicative to the players.

“Rohit, Virat and Ashwin [retired off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin] have given us a blueprint on how to tour away from home and win matches and series.”