Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have put up a number of memorable partnerships in ODI cricket over the years and they gave a reminder on just how ruthlessly they can be in the format on Saturday as they led India to a nine-wicket win over Australia in the third ODI in Sydney. India lost the series 2-1 but they would be buoyed by their bowlers’ dominant performance overall and the way the two veterans constructed the chase. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has now said that it almost felt like the game was always meant to go this way.
“The way things unfolded today, it felt like it was meant to be,” said Pathan on Star Sports. Nothing could be better than watching both these great players (Virat and Rohit) finish the match together. Virat needed around 70-74 runs in this game to maintain an average of 50 in Australia, and he made exactly that. If this isn’t poetic justice, then what is? Rohit worked so hard, he reduced weight, put in the effort, and his improved fitness showed when he quickly recovered from that run-out in the second match. Both have shown that ‘picture abhi baki hai mere dost’ (the best is yet to come, my friend).”
Record-breaking show from Rohit and Kohli
Kohli had been out for a couple of ducks in the first two ODIs while Rohit still had questions swirling around his spot despite scoring a half-century in the second match. Rohit cracked his 33rd ODI century off 105 deliveries and went on to finish unbeaten on 121 off 125 balls.
He thus 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.
Kohli, meanwhile, finished unbeaten on 74 off 81 balls. He overtook Kumar Sangakkara’s career tally of runs over the course of the innings and became
