"Demons Of BGT Back": Virat Kohli Given Reality Check By T20 World Cup Winner After 1st Duck In Australia

The first India vs Australia ODI was one-sided, to say the least. India's top-order comprising Rohit Sharma (8), Virat Kohli (0) and captain Shubman Gill (10) floundered under the overcast and seaming conditions after being put to bat by Australia. After Gill returned to the dressing room, the weather gods intervened on four occasions, further hindering India's cause. The most meaningful stand for India was stitched by Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38), who took calculated risks and added 39 runs on the board. Nitish Reddy flaunted his six-hitting capacity and tonked two towering maximums to inject much-needed impetus as India limped to 136/9 in a fixture reduced to 26 overs.

The Optus Stadium saw Indian fans turning up in large numbers in support of the visiting side which had Rohit and Kohli playing their first international match since March this year, but their failures with the bat underlined an ordinary outing for India.

Former India player Irfan Pathan said it looked like the demons of the BGT were back for Kohli.

"Fitness is one thing and game time is one thing. That is why Rohit looked a bit troubled. It looked like the demons of the BGT were back for Virat. I hope this is not the case in Adelaide and Sydney. KL Rahul batted well today. Shreyas Iyer got into an awkward position. Maybe he can work a bit more on his technique. Axar does well whenever he gets an opportunity to bat ahead," he said on his YouTube channel.

"Whenever you tour such countries, it is always better to go early and play some games. It was going to be difficult for India. It was going to be a challenge as the conditions would not be easy. Our bowlers could not get the right lengths. The batters also had trouble with the bounce. If you had played a game or two, these mistakes would not have happened. It is important to think about these things going forward."

Rohit (8), who was also playing his 500th match for India, walked in alongside new captain Shubman Gill to loud cheers from the Perth crowd, but his stay was snapped after just 14 balls.

Rohit played a sumptuous straight drive off Mitchell Starc, which offered a heady time travel back to the glory days.

But that was it for the day for the Mumbai man, as Josh Hazlewood's ability to find steep bounce from the quarter-length ended his tenure. The ever-rising ball kissed the sticker of Rohit's bat and travelled to debutant Matthew Renshaw at second slip.

Kohli walked in amid even louder cheers, but the familiar ODI greatness was nowhere to be seen. In a pre-match chat, Kohli had detailed how Australia had often brought the best out of him as a batter.

But on this instance, Starc elicited the worst out of Kohli - first through a habitual prod outside the off-stump. It eventually consumed Kohli. A drive on the up off the left-arm pacer took the edge of his bat and Cooper Connolly at backward point snaffled a wonderful catch to curtail Kohli's agonising eight-ball innings.

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