In a heartwarming gesture, Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma entrusted KL Rahul with the trophy presentation duties after the ODI series against Australia. Rahul had led the team in Rohit’s absence during the first two matches of the series. While Rohit returned for the third ODI in Rajkot, India lost the match but secured a 2-1 series victory thanks to their wins in Mohali and Indore. This touching moment was captured on video and became a viral sensation on social media.
Australia saved their best performance for the final ODI, pressuring India’s middle-order with Glenn Maxwell’s part-time off-spin, ultimately winning the match by 66 runs. Despite this loss, India clinched the series 2-1.
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Rohit Sharma expressed his satisfaction with his own performance and the team’s overall display, saying, “I’m pretty happy, of course, I would like to go all the way along, but if I’m hitting like that, I’m happy. The last 7-8 ODIs we have played really well, we have been challenged under different conditions and against different teams, I thought we responded to that challenge pretty well. Unfortunately, not the result we wanted today.”
Captain @ImRo45 & @klrahul collect the @IDFCFIRSTBank Trophy as #TeamIndia win the ODI series 2⃣-1⃣ 👏👏#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/k3JiTMiVGJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 27, 2023
India appeared to be in a strong position at 171 for 2 while chasing a challenging target of 353 on a placid pitch. However, the middle-order faltered under the pressure exerted by Glenn Maxwell, who took crucial wickets, and India finished at 286 for 10 in 49.4 overs.
Both Rohit Sharma (81) and Virat Kohli contributed fifties to set up a solid platform in the big chase, but the rest of the middle-order struggled, giving Australia the upper hand.
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In the earlier stages of the match, Mitchell Marsh (96) led Australia’s strong batting performance, with David Warner, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne also scoring attacking half-centuries. This commanding performance helped Australia break a five-ODI losing streak.
Now, both teams will play a couple of warm-up matches before facing each other again in the tournament opener in Chennai on October 8, setting the stage for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
