Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to international cricket after a long time lasted only 22 balls and their lackluster performance also affected the Indian innings which could only manage 136 runs for 9 wickets in 26 overs in the rain-affected first ODI against Australia. Due to continuous rain, the match was reduced to 26 overs per side in which Australia got a target of 131 runs to win using the Duckworth-Lewis method. Even though Rohit could not score a big score, a video of him is going viral in which Rohit is seen eating popcorn in the dressing room with new captain Shubman Gill. Seeing this, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar reacted.

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar jokingly asked Gill not to share popcorn with Rohit after the first ODI between India and Australia was stopped due to rain and Gill was seen eating popcorn in the dressing room.

Rohit has recently made significant improvements to his fitness, thanks to Abhishek Nayar. The 38-year-old lost 11 kilograms before returning to international cricket after seven months. When Nayar saw Rohit eating popcorn, he remarked during commentary, “Hey, don’t let him eat it.” This video is going viral on social media. Speaking of the match, the Indian team failed to find any momentum from the start of their innings. Except for Lokesh Rahul (38 off 30 balls), none of the batsmen looked comfortable. Australia wisely elected to bowl first at the Optus Stadium, which favored fast bowlers due to the cloud cover, and it proved to be a wise decision. Rohit Sharma (8 runs) joined new captain Shubman Gill at the crease to a rousing welcome from the crowd, but his innings lasted only 14 balls. Rohit showed glimpses of his heyday with a brilliant straight drive off Mitchell Starc, but it proved to be the only confident shot in his innings. He failed to adjust to Josh Hazlewood’s extra bounce, and the ball whizzed past his bat and went into the hands of debutant Matthew Renshaw at second slip.

Shreyas Iyer hit a brilliant square cut off Hazlewood for a boundary, but was dismissed in the same manner off the next ball. India lost four wickets for 45 runs in the 14th over. Axar Patel (31) and Rahul tried to bring the team back into the match with a 39-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Matthew Kuhnemann broke the partnership by dismissing Axar.

Rahul displayed excellent control in his innings, handling bounce well. His straight drive and pull shot off consecutive deliveries against Ellis were a treat to watch. He adopted an aggressive approach against the spinners, hitting two consecutive sixes off Matthew Short. He added 30 runs for the sixth wicket with Washington Sundar (10). Nitish Kumar Reddy (19 not out off 11 balls) scored quickly in the final overs to take the team past 130.

Watch the video here

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