Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s Australian farewell? India stare at rare ODI whitewash in Sydney

In their 1,068-match ODI history, India have suffered five whitewashes in bilateral series — 1983 vs West Indies (5-0), 1989 vs West Indies (5-0), 2006 vs South Africa (4-0), 2020 vs New Zealand (3-0), and 2022 vs South Africa (3-0). Saturday could be the sixth if head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill do not get their act together at a venue where India have suffered 16 losses out of 19 against Australia — the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sydney was the venue where Virat Kohli last played for India in Tests. It was also the venue where Rohit Sharma dropped himself from the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, only to never play for India again in whites. If the raised gloves, an act of silent acknowledgment of the appreciative Adelaide crowd during his walk back to the pavilion after registering his second successive duck, were any hint, then Sydney could be the last time the Aussies could see Kohli live in India colours.




It was the same venue where he had infamously flipped the bird to an abusive section of fans during his first visit back in 2011.

If we keep the BGT aside, Rohit Sharma will have some pleasant memories in Australia’s most buzzing city. He is the only player in the Indian set-up who was part of both the wins that India have had over the Aussies at the SCG. In the 2008 CB Tri-Series first final, he made an 87-ball 66 and shared a 123-run stand for the fourth wicket with Sachin Tendulkar (117*) to help India chase down 240.

In 2016, as an established white-ball opener, Rohit scored a 108-ball 99 and added 97 with player-of-the-match Manish Pandey (104*) to help India avoid a whitewash and chase down 331 with two balls to spare.

That match also marked the legendary Jasprit Bumrah’s international debut. He had been picked to play only the three-match T20I series that was to follow the ODIs, but an injury-plagued bowling attack meant Bumrah had to literally step out of the plane, strap his bowling boots on, and play. He made an instant impact with 2 for 40 from his 10 overs.

Bumrah will be in town again, having landed with the T20 team on Friday. But expect no favours this time around. He will be there only for the T20Is.

And truth be told, the combinations India have fielded in the two ODIs Down Under and the tactics they have employed, they deserve no favours. Bulking up the batting line-up by picking three all-rounders and going thin on the bowling resources, and making a match-winner like Kuldeep Yadav warm the bench, was a strategy that was bound to backfire on the firmer and truer surfaces of Australia.

Harshit Rana may have made a buccaneering contribution with the bat in Adelaide and may have bowled incisively in his first spell in which he got Travis Head out, but the way his pace dropped after he came back for the second spell, with his execution of slower cutters all over the place, making him cannon fodder for Mitch Owen, suggests that he still does not have it in him to play for India across formats. Some more miles in the legs by playing in domestic cricket may be the way to go.

India can try the option of using Prasidh Krishna, a tall, hit-the-deck operator, to replace Rana, and with the series already gone, they could be more uninhibited and try out Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top. The team management should also ponder whether they are making optimum use of KL Rahul at No. 6.

Axar Patel is a fantastic multi-skilled cricketer, but he is no Brian Lara or Yuvraj Singh to consistently get a gig at No. 5 on surfaces that are helpful for bowlers. Maybe Rahul, who averages 56.47 in 31 innings at that spot and has a strike rate of 96.36 there, is a better option. India’s depth in white-ball cricket, thanks to the IPL, is often the envy of teams all over the world. In Adelaide, the Aussies showed off that the Big Bash isn’t far behind as a talent stable. Matt Short (Adelaide Strikers), Cooper Connolly (Perth Scorchers), and Mitch Owen (Hobart Hurricanes) silenced their IPL counterparts.

India’s record in bilateral ODIs post the 2019 World Cup hasn’t been great. They have lost series to New Zealand (away), South Africa (away), Bangladesh (away), Sri Lanka (away), and Australia (twice — away and once at home).

Time for the bragging to end. There is work to do.