Once Kohli's haven, Adelaide reveals Australia's ODI horizon

Virat Kohli is always the happiest when he's in Adelaide. Of all the cities in Australia, and probably of all the cities in the cricket world. There's a sense of familiarity he enjoys with the city. Whether it's the one cafe on Hindley Street that he frequents, the walk across the footbridge over the Torrens River that brings him to the Adelaide Oval, or the pitches in the middle here that he's always had fun batting on.

It's safe to say that Kohli feels at home in Adelaide. Ask him yourself. "It's a little bit my city also no bro?" he'd told this writer with a lovely smile two days out from the match when he was welcomed to the city. So, there was an extra layer of poignancy and maybe even heartbreak when the champion Indian batter was trapped lbw by Xavier Bartlett for no score after facing only four deliveries on Thursday afternoon. One of the more endearing love stories of the modern era, between Kohli and Adelaide, was officially over.

How often Kohli had stood in the middle of the Adelaide Oval with his bat raised in glory and waved towards every corner of his favourite cricket venue in the world. How often he'd held court in the middle of the Adelaide Oval, dominant and defiant, as if he was the man who ran the place.

But all he could do on Thursday as he dragged himself away from the middle of the Adelaide Oval, having scored a second consecutive zero for the first time in his ODI career, was raise his gloves to the member's pavilion. In a state of acknowledgement and resignation.

While India have been busy looking to see if two of their greatest can wind back the clock, Australia have managed to wind their clock forwards as an ODI team. That was certainly the case in Adelaide, as they were led to victory by three inexperienced batters who look primed to form the core of what this team looks like over the next decade. For, if it was Matt Short who laid the foundations for the run-chase, the crucial finishing touches came from two of the most promising young cricketers in the country, Cooper Connolly and Mitch Owen. They also did it with a sense of freedom you find with young players whose spark has been recognised by their selectors. To such an extent that they get backed in with a long rope.

A lot different to the confidence shown by the Indian selectors in their senior statesmen to be able to rekindle their flame at the top of their game. So much so that you are left to wonder if the rope is indeed long enough for Kohli and Rohit Sharma to last till the 2027 World Cup.

Unlike Kohli, Rohit did fight through an incredible inquisition from Josh Hazlewood with the new-ball, even if he barely looked convincing during the first 50 deliveries of his innings. The former Indian captain struggled his way to 30 off 62 balls at one stage before gaining some rhythm back through the second half of his knock. There were pulled sixes off Owen's medium-pace and a couple of attractive boundaries against the spinners. But the extra pace along with the angle of Mitchell Starc was enough to end his innings before he could reach a significant mark. Rohit would still take being top-scorer in only his second game as a one-format player for India. With the expectation of making the most of it at his preferred Australian venue at the SCG. But the jury is likely to still be out in terms of how much longer he can continue to remain at the top of the order.

But it's difficult not to at least ponder over the possibility of Kohli's ODI career finishing in the same city, Sydney, where his Test career did earlier in the year. Even if for now, there's no clarity around how much the most prolific century-maker in ODI cricket thinks he has left in the tank.

It's ironic then when you compare where the likes of Short, Connolly and Owen are currently at in their respective careers. Especially in terms of how Thursday ended up being a sort of coming of age moment for all three of them. Short has been persisted with for the last 18 or so months despite mixed returns. And to guide the run-chase the way he did from No 3 after an explosive start is just what Australia has been expecting of him ever since he was given a go as a late bloomer.

Connolly, meanwhile, had barely got a significant hit in the middle as an international cricketer, through the dozen or so appearances across formats. He'd in fact walked out to bat with a highest ODI score of 7 not out, and it was his impetus through the middle that really put Australia in a commanding position, not bad for a 22-year-old, who starred in the BBL 12 final, still trying to show the rest of Australia why the team management are so high on him.

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