The second ODI of the ongoing India tour of Australia 2025 will be played at the Adelaide Oval on October 23, with both teams eyeing momentum after contrasting results in Perth. Australia dominated the series opener, winning by seven wickets via the DLS method as India’s batting faltered again, raising concerns about the form of their senior batters Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli. As the action moves to the batting-friendly conditions of Adelaide, Indian fans will be hoping that their captain will finally break his curse at this historic ground.
Rohit Sharma’s struggles in Adelaide over the years
Despite being one of the greatest ODI batters of his era, Rohit’s record at Adelaide Oval remains unexpectedly poor. Across six innings played at this venue, Rohit scored just 147 runs, with a highest score of 43 against Australia in January 2019. Remarkably, in all his appearances here, he has never scored a fifty or a hundred. His scores at the venue were 12, 24, 33, 15, 15 and 43, underlining a series of disappointing returns despite appearing on hitting surfaces that generally favored stroke play. His overall average at Adelaide stands at a modest 24.5 with a strike rate hovering around 60, well below his career average of over 48.
Rohit’s dismissals often followed a similar pattern, with him falling behind or on the boundary as he tried to execute aggressive drives early in his innings. In 2008 he managed only 12 and 24 games in a row during the tri-series. Later in 2012, he again failed to convert starts, recording 33 and 15 in two matches. Even during the World Cup match against India in 2015 Pakistanplayed in clear conditions, he managed just 15 before being dismissed for a short delivery. His best performance at the venue came in 2019 when he scored 43 off 52 balls against Australia, showing some authority, but again fell below fifty. This series of modest contributions makes Adelaide one of his least successful Australian venues, a statistic he will be desperate to overturn in the coming match.
Also READ: 3 Centuries, 4 Fifties: Virat Kohli’s ODI record in Australia
Experienced pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit under pressure
Rohit and Virat Kohli both are under increasing pressure after failures in the first ODI in Perth. Rohit scored just eight runs before taking the lead Josh Hazlewood to slide, while Kohli was dismissed for a duck after struggling to find rhythm early in his innings. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar noted that the duo seemed rusty due to limited playing time and that the extra bounce in Perth exposed their timing issues. Kohli’s last half-century ODI came in the Champions Trophy earlier this year, and Rohit too has not converted his starts of late, leaving India with major instability.
At Adelaide Oval, where the surface supports fluid strokeplay and moderate bounce, both senior batters will look to redeem themselves. The team management’s confidence in experience remains strong and fans expect this match to be their comeback. For Rohit in particular, breaking the drought in Adelaide could rejuvenate his ODI rhythm and quell mounting criticism. For Kohli, who has historically averaged above 70 at this venue, this could be the perfect opportunity to lead India’s batting recovery and keep the three-match series alive. With both icons aware of the weight of expectations, Adelaide could either signal a resurgence on Thursday or add to India’s concerns about their senior line-up.
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