3 reasons why India could struggle in AUS vs IND 2025 ODI series

Lack of game time for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Retired from T20Is and Tests, former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t played a single match since the IPL 2025 season. Notably, the Men in Blue have not played an ODI since the 2025 Champions Trophy final, where they beat New Zealand in the summit clash.

The two players recently sweated out in the nets to prepare for the 50-over matches. With plenty of experience under their belt, the duo needs to deliver if India wants to win the ODI series. Interestingly, Australia also brings the best out of them - Rohit has amassed 2,407 runs in 46 innings against the Aussies, averaging 57.30 with the help of eight centuries. Kohli is equally impressive with 2,232 runs in 53 innings at an average of 43.76, including nine tons.

However, the duo struggled in the longest format when India last toured Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While Kohli continuously fell prey to edging outside off-stump, Rohit never found himself getting going in the series. The format change is likely to bring different results, as the duo rules the 50-over format with over 10,000 runs.