Rohit Sharma slammed a match-winning hundred in the third ODI vs Australia on Saturday in Sydney, taking India to a thumping 9-wicket win over Australia in the 3rd and final ODI. With Australia already winning the first 2 ODIs and sealing the series, the narrative around the third match was more about if Rohit and Virat Kohli can end what might be their last Australia tour on a high. And the two veteran stars signed off the Australia tour with a bang, scoring a ton and a half century respectivey.
“That’s what you expect in Australia, it’s not going to be easy. You got to understand the situation. Haven’t played for a long time, had a good prep coming here. We couldn’t win the series but we still take a lot of positives,” Rohit said after he was adjudged the player of the match with his unbeaten 121 runs.
“There’ll be a lot of learnings for the youngsters. When I came for the first time, how the seniors helped up. It’s our job to pass on the message. Never easy to travel abroad and play cricket. The guys are pretty talented, you need to have some game-plan. I still go back to the basics of playing and that’s something I need to pass on to these guys. I love playing in Australia. In Sydney, I have a good memory, great place and great crowd. I love doing what I do and hope to continue to do that,” he added.
The 38-year-old Rohit cracked his 33rd ODI century off 105 deliveries and became only the 10th man in history to secure 50 international centuries. Besides his 12 tons in Test cricket, Rohit is still the joint-highest century-maker in the T20I format, which he retired from at the end of India’s victorious World Cup campaign in the Caribbean in July 2024.
Along with Virat Kohli, Rohit’s ton guided India to a dominant win against the hosts as India avoided a clean sweep in Sydney with the series ending at 2-1 in Australia’s favour.
