Is Kohli’s 8-Ball duck in Perth the beginning of the end for his ODI career?

It was a nightmare return for Indian superstar Virat Kohli, who perished for a duck after just eight balls in the first ODI against Australia at the Optus Stadium. Playing his first international match since the IPL 2025 final, the 36-year-old looked visibly rusty before Mitchell Starc ended his stay with a classic setup.

Coming in after Rohit Sharma’s early dismissal, Kohli never looked settled. Then, in the seventh over, Starc produced a full, swinging delivery that tempted Kohli into a loose drive away from his body. The ball found the outside edge, and Cooper Connolly’s brilliant dive at backward point sealed Kohli’s fate.

Virat Kohli duck

This was Kohli’s first-ever duck in 30 ODI innings in Australia, a rare blemish for a player who once thrived under these conditions. The dismissal also made Starc just the second bowler, after James Anderson, to remove Kohli for a duck twice in international cricket.

As India’s most dependable batter trudged off the field, questions echoed louder than ever: Is this just a blip, or the first sign that Kohli’s glorious ODI era is finally fading?