Australia has clinched the three-match series against India with a 2-1 victory, after winning the third and final match by 21 runs. This marks Australia’s first ODI series win in India in four years, while India has suffered their second defeat in the last ten ODI series. India’s loss to Australia in Chennai was painful, but the team captain emphasized that it’s not the time to blame any individual player. Instead, he sees this rare home defeat as an opportunity for growth and improvement.
What is ODI?
One of the three officially recognized formats of cricket is ODI, which two teams with 11 players on each side play. The teams play their innings for a maximum of 50 overs or until they dismiss all the players in the team, whichever comes first.
On March 22 in Chennai, India’s failure to chase down a target of 269 dashed their hopes of winning the ODI series against Australia. Despite Virat Kohli’s fifty and Hardik Pandya’s fighting 40, India fell short. Pandya had earlier picked up three crucial wickets, but it wasn’t enough to secure victory. This defeat marked India’s first home ODI series loss since March 2019. India had a disappointing end to the series, winning the opener in Mumbai before Australia crushed them by 10 wickets in Visakhapatnam. Their lowest-ever total in ODIs against Australia was just 117, and they were bowled out.
India’s hopes were high after Hardik and Kuldeep Yadav combined for 6 crucial wickets, restricting Australia to a modest 269 runs in 49 overs during the 3rd ODI. While Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma provided a strong start, India ultimately fell short of their target by 22 runs.
Kohli and Rahul’s 69-run partnership boosted India’s pursuit of victory, but Australia kept interrupting their progress with frequent wicket-taking. India won seven consecutive matches after losing the ODI series in Bangladesh in December 2022. But they couldn’t maintain their lead over Australia in the ODI series after securing a Border-Gavaskar Trophy win of 2-1.
Rohit Sharma’s comment Regarding match
Rohit Sharma commented during the post-match presentation that despite scoring 269 runs, he felt that it wasn’t too many. He noted that the wicket became more challenging in the second half and expressed disappointment in their batting performance. Rohit stressed on cricket partnerships and regretted the lack of crucial collaborations during the match.
“The absence of certain players who truly belong in the starting lineup is a cause for concern. Honstly, we are putting in our best efforts to ensure everyone gets a fair chance to play. Our attention is heavily focused on managing our players, which is why we have had to rest some of them on occasion”.- He added.