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New Delhi: Vintage Rohit Sharma showcased his brilliance once again sending out a loud and clear message that he is here to stay. After bouncing back to form with a half-century in Adelaide ODI against Australia, Rohit exhibited his pure batting class with an unbeaten century in Sydney ODI on Saturday to power India to a commanding victory over Australia in the final match of the series.
While India lost the series 1-2 but it was former skipper Rohit along with magnificent Virat Kohli who won all the hearts sitting in and around the beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). A fitter and leaner Rohit, who was being criticized for his fitness issues, after shedding the extra kilos doubled it up with an exuberant batting display which will be remembered as one of the best knocks in years to come.
The 38-year-old pushed the confident bowling unit of Australia against the wall by scoring 121 runs off 125 deliveries at a brilliant strike rate of close to 97. His special innings was studded with as many as 13 boundaries and three massive sixes as the majestic batter left the Sydney crowd in awe once again. Having had a brilliant record in the format in Australia, Rohit seemed to be in a completely different mood and had different plans for the chase which turned out to be easy for the veteran batter.
Making the chase like a cakewalk, Rohit stood firm on on one end of the crease displaying his tactful and flamboyant batting at the same time. The timing, shot selection and aggressiveness looked pitch perfect as the 38-year-old was not playing like veteran but a young player.
After completing a brilliant half-century in the third and final match of the series on Saturday, Rohit took no time to convert the fifty into a hundred, his 33rd in the format which he has excelled in. In the overall international cricket, it was Rohit's 50th international century, with 12 in Tests, 5 in T20Is and 33 in ODIs.
By virtue of the brilliant innings, Rohit became the only batter to score five or more hundreds in each of the three formats. He also scripted a record of the most ODI 100s by a visiting batter in Australia with his sixth century in 33rd innings. The Hitman surpassed Virat Kohli and Kumar Sangakkara's record of five centuries each in Australia.
