Shubman Gill Reflects on Perth Defeat, Says Early Wickets Hurt India in Series Opener

Shubman Gill admitted that India’s top-order collapse and rain interruptions cost them the first ODI against Australia at Perth Stadium.

India ODI captain Shubman Gill admitted there were plenty of lessons to learn from the seven-wicket defeat (via DLS method) against Australia in the first ODI at Perth Stadium on Sunday.

Gill said India’s early collapse inside the Powerplay made it difficult to recover and build momentum for the rest of the innings.

“When you lose three wickets in the powerplay, you’re always trying to play a catch-up game,” said Shubman Gill when asked about the rain delays and India’s poor start.

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Despite setting a modest total, Gill expressed satisfaction with how India managed to stretch the match till the later stages.

“A lot of learnings for us from this game and a lot of positives for us as well. We were defending 130 and we took the game, not till the very end, but pretty deep. We were very satisfied with that,” he added.

Marsh guides Australia to victory in rain-hit game

Australia’s stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh continued his fine form, scoring an unbeaten 46 to guide his side to a comfortable seven-wicket win in a rain-affected match.

India were restricted to 136/9 in 26 overs after the game was interrupted four times by rain, setting a revised target of 131 for Australia. The hosts chased it down in 21.1 overs.

A crowd of 42,423, mostly Indian fans, witnessed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s much-anticipated return, but both failed to make an impact. Rohit was dismissed for eight by Josh Hazlewood, while Kohli fell for a duck to Mitchell Starc.

Gill, leading the side for the first time as full-time ODI captain, was dismissed for 10 by Nathan Ellis as India slumped to 37/3 before rain halted play. Shreyas Iyer (11) too departed soon after the resumption.

KL Rahul (38) and Axar Patel (31) steadied the innings briefly, while debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy added a quick-fire 19 off 11 balls. Hazlewood (2/20) and Starc (1/22) were the pick of the bowlers.

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In reply, Marsh hit three sixes and shared a crucial 55-run stand with Josh Philippe (37). Matt Renshaw remained unbeaten on 21, sealing victory in the 22nd over. Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar took a wicket each.

The series now moves to Adelaide on Thursday before concluding in Sydney on Saturday. When asked about the atmosphere in Perth, Gill said, “We were very satisfied with that. We are very fortunate. The fans turned up in huge numbers and hopefully they’ll be able to cheer us on at Adelaide as well.”