Indian megastars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma flop in Perth farewell

Indian megastars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have delivered a Perth farewell to forget with the white-ball maestros producing just eight runs between them in the opening ODI.

Sharma and Kohli have made their intentions to play in the 2027 World Cup clear, having farewelled red-ball and T20 cricket.

But their road to redemption after being beaten by Australia on home soil in the 2023 final has gotten off to the worst possible start.

A trim and fit Sharma looked a refreshed man as he strode to the crease at Perth Stadium after Australia sent the visitors in to bat.

And signs were promising as he got a drive to the rope early.

But Josh Hazlewood is a tough man to face on any day and even more so on a pacey and bouncy wicket in Perth.

The Aussie star worked the former skipper over before getting extra bounce and finding the edge to debutant Matt Renshaw at second slip.

The roars for Kohli’s arrival at the crease were reminiscent of his final Test match century struck in the first match of last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, his leg bye off his first delivery was the closest he got to a run, a nervy eight-ball stay brought to a spectacular end by a flying local star in Cooper Connolly.

The West Aussie young gun dove to his left after Kohli squirted a drive on the up towards the gully region.

Connolly made the take look simple as he wrapped two hands around the ball, bringing the India superstar’s Perth farewell to an anticlimactic end.

The demise of the two stars and red-hot skipper Shubman Gill strangled down the leg side had Australia well on top after nine overs before rain delayed play.