Scars of the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand were opened up in India’s first match of the ODI World Cup 2023, against Australia in Chennai, as India lost their first three wickets for only 2 runs!
Captain and opener Rohit Sharma, opener Ishan Kishan, and number 4 batsman Shreyas Iyer all failed to open their accounts and all three were dismissed for ducks.
Defending a low total of 200 runs, the Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood came out all guns firing and picked out 3 wickets in the first two overs to leave India reeling at 2/3!
Ishan Kishan, playing in place of the ill Shubman Gill, bagged a golden duck as he went chasing a full and widish ball from Starc but only managed to edge it to first slip.
Hazlewood first dismissed Rohit Sharma lbw, the ball seaming in significantly to hit Rohit on the pads in front of the stumps; a review couldn’t save Rohit. Three balls later, Iyer chipped a length ball outside off-stump straight to David Warner at cover. India were rocked early in their chase, and Australia had brought the match alive in a space of 12 balls.
IND vs AUS: Indian batters create embarrassing record
The Indian trio of Rohit, Kishan, and Iyer made quite an embarrassing record as this is the first time in India’s men’s ODI history that three of the top 4 batters have been dismissed for a duck.
This is also just only the 7th instance in men’s ODI World Cup history that both the opening batsmen were gone for naught. The last time both Indian men’s openers were dismissed for a duck in an ODI was way back during the 2004 VB series vs Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have steadied India’s ship with their calm and classy batting. At the time of writing, Indi are 97/3 in 25 overs, with Kohli batting on 48 and Rahul on 46. India need 103 more runs in 25 overs. With Kohli and Rahul now settled, and the ball not doing much off the surface, an India win is looking likely.
