Rohit-Virat in ODI team after 223 days, 'Hitman' came to play 500th match

New Delhi, October 19 (IANS). Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been included in India’s eleven in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. Both these players are playing in the ODI team after 223 days. ‘Ro-Ko’ last appeared in the final of the Champions Trophy on 9 March 2025, in which Team India won. Rohit Sharma came to play his 500th match at international level. He is the fifth Indian to touch this figure. He played 67 Tests, 159 T20s and 274 ODIs for India. Rohit could face only 14 balls in the first match of the series and score 8 runs with one four. On the other hand, Virat Kohli came to play his 551st match at international level. Kohli is the second Indian to play most international matches for India. Kohli played 123 Tests, 302 ODIs and 126 ODIs for India. Sachin Tendulkar is the Indian who has played most ODIs. He played 664 matches for Team India. In this list, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is third with 535 international matches. Rohit Sharma, who has played 504 ODIs for India, is at number four on the list. In this match played at Perth Stadium, Australia won the toss and invited India to bat first. Nitish Reddy has a chance to debut in the Indian team in the ODI. The command of the Indian team is in the hands of Shubman Gill. Along with him, senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are also present in the eleven. Along with them, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh have been given a chance in the first ODI. On the other hand, the Australian team under the captaincy of Mitchell Marsh includes Travis Head, Matthew Short, Josh Phillip (wicketkeeper), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhneman and Josh Hazlewood. In ODI history, the Australian team had the upper hand over Team India. Out of 152 matches, Australia won 84 matches, while India won 58 matches. 10 matches also remained inconclusive. –IANS RSG/AS