Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting opined on the performance of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first ODI against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Rohit scored 8 runs while Kohli was dismissed for a duck in their first international match in seven months. The two have retired from T20Is and Test cricket and are only active in the fifty-over format.
They want to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup but everything will depend on their performances in the series before the global tournament in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
“When you comeback after a long break, you will struggle. It is not easy to land in Australia and start scoring runs. You can’t get use to the conditions in Perth by landing two days before the series opener,” Shastri said.
“Only time will tell. They will now play in Adelaide and can return to nets to sort out things. I don’t want to judge at the moment. It is about how much you are enjoying your game and how much hunger and passion are left in you,” he added.
“I would wait rather than jumping and judging them immediately,” he concluded.
Ponting agreed with Shastri and mentioned that Kohli will be eyeing short term goals in Australia. “I don’t like hearing that I have achieved everything in the game. You have to set short-term goals and not just trying to play in the 2027 World Cup,” Ponting said.
“I think Virat will sit down and come out with a plan on achieving things in the series against Australia. Both guys are best and they will be batting on good batting wickets in Australia. The Adelaide Oval pitch is always good for batting in ODIs,” he concluded.