Kohli’s twin failures, Sharma’s fifty talking points in India’s loss

IT’S hard to find context in an ODI bilateral series with no major events scheduled in that format for the next two years.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

Virat Kohli reacts after his second consecutive duck on Thursday

(AP)

But that’s the space both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma exist in right now. Having become one format players for the national team and with the 50-over World Cup remaining an itch both want to scratch for one last time in 2027, every match becomes an event in and of itself.

It’s why the ongoing three-match 50-over series Down Under may, in hindsight, be known as the farewell tour for two giants of Indian sports. It certainly looked like one for Kohli when he raised his hand to acknowledge the cheers of the largely Indian crowd at Adelaide after his dismissal for a second consecutive zero. He was caught in front and after a quick consultation with Sharma in the middle — because that’s how these things work — Kohli made the long walk back.

Adelaide, in essence, made Kohli. It was here in 2014 that the then young captain made two 100s in both innings of a Test. His 141, in the fourth innings, put in place the foundations for the kind of cricket his team came to play under him.