Hazlewood stuns Rohit Sharma as his return to international cricket ends in disappointment

Oct 19, 2025

Perth [Australia], October 19 : Former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's eagerly awaited return to international cricket was short-lived, as he was dismissed for eight runs by Josh Hazlewood in the first ODI against Australia in Perth.
Rohit, making his 500th international appearance for India, was removed by Hazlewood after edging the ball towards second slip, which was grabbed by the debutant Matthew Renshaw.
The highly anticipated series opener against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth marked the return of Rohit in ODIs for the first time since lifting the Champions Trophy on March 9 in Dubai.
After the Champions Trophy final, Rohit competed in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which concluded in June and since then has been out of action for months.
Rohit became the fifth Indian player to achieve this milestone, following Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rahul Dravid. In 500 matches so far, Rohit has scored 19,708 runs at an average of 42.11, with 49 centuries and 108 fifties and a best score of 264.
While in ODIs in 274 matches, he has scored 11176 runs at an average of 48.59 and a strike rate of 92.76, with 32 centuries and 58 fifties and a best score of 264.
Earlier in the match, Australia had won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the first ODI in Perth on Sunday at the Optus Stadium.
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.