"Bowlers are aiming to be away from him" - Zaheer Khan analyzes star batter's dismissal in IND vs AUS 2025 1st ODI

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan praised Australia for building pressure on Virat Kohli with disciplined bowling, which led to his early dismissal in the Perth ODI on Sunday, October 19. Zaheer admitted that Kohli has had his issues while chasing wide deliveries, which opposition bowlers are exploiting.

Australia beat India by seven wickets [DLS method] in Perth in the first one-dayer of the three-match series. Sent into bat in a rain-hit game that was reduced to 26 overs per side, India were held to 136-9. Chasing a revised target of 131, the hosts cruised to victory in 21.1 overs.

The much-hyped 'comeback' of Rohit Sharma and Kohli proved to be an anti-climax as both star batters failed to make an impact. Rohit (8) was caught at second slip as he poked at one outside off stump from Josh Hazlewood. Kohli (0) then flashed at a wide one from Mitchell Starc and was caught at backward point.

During a discussion on Cricbuzz, Zaheer hailed Australia's bowlers for their precision in the first few overs, which forced a mistake out of Kohli. He said:

"These technical things are always there. As a bowling group, you will be focusing on those areas. You've seen with Virat, once he's in, he strong on the on side, he's good through the covers and the length is something which is always going to be crucial for him. But line is also that one factor. Lot of the bowlers now are aiming to be very away from him. "Doesn't have to be predictable, but you kind of work your way around. You keep building that pressure and then throw one really wide outside off for him to be tempted to play that shot. He's been finding a way of scoring runs in spite of that. It's just a phase, but the credit has to be given to the bowlers to be disciplined enough to be exploiting those areas," he added.

The opening ODI between India and Australia was the first international game for both Rohit and Kohli since the Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai in March.

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Australian bowlers dominated Perth ODI

Australian bowlers came up with an impressive effort to keep India down to a below-par total in the rain-first opening ODI in Perth. After Rohit and Kohli, skipper Shubman Gill (10) and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer (11) also fell cheaply.

Axar Patel (31 off 38) and KL Rahul (38 off 31) combined to give India's innings some respectability, while Nitish Kumar Reddy (19* off 11) also hit a couple of sixes. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Owen and Matthew Kuhnemann claimed two wickets each. Skipper Mitchell Marsh (46* off 52) guided the chase, while Josh Philippe contributed 37 off 29.

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Edited by Renin Wilben Albert