Mitchell Marsh led Australia to an ODI win against India as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled to make a return to international cricket.
Published October 19, 2025
Australia’s stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his team to a seven-wicket victory over India in the weather-affected first One-Day International (ODI) at Perth Stadium.
Despite four interruptions due to rain, India slumped to 136-9 from 26 overs, setting a revised target of 131 for Australia, which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs.
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When India took to bat, the sea of blue in the crowd of 42,423 didn’t have to wait long to catch sight of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The former captains, who retired from other formats with a view to the 2027 World Cup, have returned to international duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March.
Neither looked convincing against Australia’s pace bowlers, with Rohit holding off Josh Hazlewood at second slip on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for a duck.
“All of their hitters are world class and legends of the game,” said spinner Matthew Kuhneman, who finished with 2 wins and 26 losses. “Especially in one-day cricket, getting wickets up front makes a big difference.”
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New one-day skipper Shubman Gill was given a 10-run dismissal for tickling seamer Nathan Ellis by wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 when play was halted for two hours due to light rain.
The crowd applauded sarcastically when the cover was removed, and then gave serious applause when Shreyas Iyer (11) slammed Hazlewood against the fence. But the bowler got his revenge in the next over as Philippe took another leg-side catch.
Kounemann and medium-pacer Mitch Owen kept the pressure on and stopped the momentum created by Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38), but Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the excitement with a quick 19 off 11 balls.
Marsh, who replaced Pat Cummins, whose availability for the Ashes is uncertain due to a back injury, sparked Australia’s fightback with three sixes and continued his strong performances against South Africa and New Zealand.
Philippe, playing his first ODI since 2021 in the absence of Josh Inglis and Alex Carey, supported his captain with an attacking 37, holed out to Arshdeep Singh in the deep.
Matt Renshaw helped the team home with 21 not out while Arshdeep, Axar and Washington Sundar each took one wicket.
“We knew we weren’t going to get that many runs, but we just wanted to express ourselves,” Arshdeep said.
The series moves to Adelaide on Thursday and concludes in Sydney on Saturday.
