Team India’s ODI series loss in Australia raises questions — were selection blunders or rusty execution to blame for the disappointing performance?
Australia’s premier leg spinner, Adam Zampa, walked away with the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his figures of 4/60 after the second ODI against India at Adelaide. He used the surface and his variations effectively to run through the Blue Brigade’s middle order. As a result, the tourists couldn’t post a winning score, and ended up suffering a two-wicket defeat.
India’s start under their new ODI skipper Shubman Gill has been disappointing so far. Gautam Gambhir has now lost two successive series as India’s head coach against Australia down under. The Blue Brigade had earlier ended their two consecutive Test series winning-streak in Australia with a 3-1 series defeat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. And now, in the ongoing series, they’ve lost an ODI in Adelaide after 17 long years.
In the first couple of games, there were several errors in the management’s decisions and the players’ approach. Let’s dissect the causes of India’s ODI series defeat in Australia.
Read More: AUS vs IND 2025-26, 3rd ODI: Ro-Ko deliver a masterclass, hand consolation win to India
India show timid approach with bat in successive ODIs
At Perth, Team India found themselves three down for 27 runs inside the first 10 overs. One could blame the bad weather and stop-start situation. However, the conditions were not the same in Adelaide. Yet, they lost both Gill and Virat Kohli within the first seven overs.
In this series, the two-time World Cup winners have shown a timid approach with the bat. None of their openers have been attacking against the new ball in recent games, which used to be a regular occurrence for India in the format from the start of 2023 until the Champions Trophy final in 2025.
After seven overs, the visitors only had 17 runs on the board. The pressure kept building from both ends, forcing Gill into a rash shot. The right-handed batter, on nine runs, mistimed a drive and chipped the ball into the hands of Mitchell Marsh at mid-off. Whereas, Kohli returned to the dressing room after recording his second consecutive duck of the trip.
Since the start of 2023, India have a batting strike rate of 97.79 in ODIs inside the first ten overs. In 48 innings, they have lost only 53 wickets at an average of nearly 53. However, the record is extremely poor in the ongoing Australia series. In two innings, they have lost five wickets in the first powerplay at a strike rate of 41.67.
Their 264 runs were never enough to defend at Adelaide. Despite losing wickets at crucial stages, Australia maintained their aggressive approach in the middle overs. They were further helped by India’s lapses on the field, including a few decisive dropped catches. Moreover, skipper Gill looked a little perplexed with his tactics in various match situations.
Read More: Two ducks in a row for Virat Kohli: What’s going wrong for him?
India’s shocking selection calls
Since the start of 2023, Kuldeep Yadav has been India’s leading ODI wicket-taker in away fixtures. The left-arm wrist spinner has collected 16 wickets in 10 innings at an average of 16.12. His strike rate of 26.2 is extremely impressive with two four-wicket hauls. Yet, it wasn’t enough for the management to select the Uttar Pradesh-born in the eleven.
India’s decision to leave out Kuldeep Yadav in Perth could be understood. They wanted to use four pacers to exploit the extra bounce and pace of the surface. But to keep him out in Adelaide’s sunny conditions was baffling. The eleven India fielded didn’t look balanced or capable enough to beat the mighty Aussies in their home.
The selectors also decided to rest their premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, for the ODI leg. This move was made to manage his workload.
To exploit the pace-friendly conditions in Australia, India went with four pacers in the eleven, including the inexperienced all-rounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy. Harshit Rana, backed as a bowling all-rounder player at number 9. But none of these strategies lent succour to India’s batting depth, as the visitors weren’t able to put up above par scores in both the ODIs. The philosophy of batting depth is superfluous if the team cannot post an above par score.
Rather, if India would have opted for Kuldeep, his 10 overs could have easily contributed to more wickets for them in the middle overs. To substantiate, Adam Zampa – Australia’s wrist spinner – collected four wickets on the same evening.
In this series so far, India have picked 11 wickets in two innings. In comparison, the hosts have bagged 18. Hence, there is a clear difference in both sides’ bowling performances.
Read More: Palpable reluctance of so-called stars to play FC/List A games hurting Indian cricket?
‘Ro-Ko’ situation could catalyze changes in batting
Kohli is going through a nightmare with two successive ducks in the series. His four-ball stay in Adelaide was daunting. He missed a straight ball from Xavier Bartlett and was beaten on the inside edge due to its sheer pace. At Perth, he looked rusty for his eight-ball stay that ended with a mistimed drive to backward point.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is currently warming the benches, could appear as a decent option for the third ODI at Sydney. However, it remains to be seen if the selectors would go for Jaiswal in place of the talismanic Kohli.
While Kohli has been struggling for form, his partner-in-crime Rohit Sharma, redeemed himself at Adelaide after disappointing in the first ODI. Sharma played a fine knock of 73 runs after surviving Josh Hazlewood’s new ball spell. Yet, it is too early to comment on Kohli and Rohit’s future in the format.
What’s next?
Losing the series in the first two games of a three-match series always provides the chance to shuffle team combinations. It would be the same case with the Blue Brigade. However, a lot of questions still hover – Will they change their mindset for the third encounter? Will they back their aggressive batting approach?
The third and final fixture of the series will take place on October 25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This will be a massive game for Kohli in terms of winning his own trust back. After the current series against Australia, fans will have to wait for another four weeks for a possible Rohit-Kohli sighting in the home ODI series against South Africa.
Read More: Rohit (1714) & Virat (1710) are the fifth & sixth-highest run-scorers in ODIs from 2023 onwards
