India vs Australia 1st ODI: Kohli, Rohit in focus as India batting first in Perth

Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl against India in the first ODI at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday. 

 

Rohit Sharma and skipper Shubman Gill opened the innings for India. Virat Kohli will come at No. 3, followed by Shreyas Iyer and K.L. Rahul, who will double up as the wicketkeeper. 

 

For India, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is making his ODI debut at a stadium where he played his debut Test almost a year back. For Australia, Matthew Renshaw and Mitchell Owen make their ODI debuts.

 

The Australian tour, which is Gill's maiden outing as full-time ODI skipper, also marks the return of Kohli and Rohit Sharma to the India fold after a gap of seven months. The future of the two stalwarts has become a subject of intense speculation, especially after Gill's elevation to ODI captaincy.

 

The second ODI will be played in Adelaide on October 23 and the third in Sydney on October 25.  It will be followed by a five-match T20 International series starting October 29.

 

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

 

Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood. 

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