 "Senior batters and former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were at their vintage best in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney. AP")
It was a ‘Super Saturday’ for Indian cricket fans as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stitched together a vintage partnership in a run chase to help India defeat Australia by 9 wickets in Sydney .
The ODI leg of the tour, which got underway on Sunday, was centred around the batting icons and their return to the Indian dressing room after seven months. Both Rohit and Kohli however, took their time to get into the groove, getting dismissed for 8 and 0 respectively in the series opener in Perth. And while Rohit showed signs of returning to form with a cautious 73 in the second game in Adelaide, Kohli was dismissed for a second consecutive duck.
Ro-Ko, however, were at their vintage best in the third and final one-dayer in Sydney, remaining unbeaten on 121 and 74 respectively and forging a mammoth, unbroken second-wicket partnership that was ultimately worth 168. Though India lost the ODI series 2-1, Rohit and Kohli’s triumphant return at the Sydney Cricket Ground is likely to be significant for the Men in Blue as far as their long-term ODI plans are concerned.
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Both former captains have indicated their desire to bid the sport goodbye in the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup in South Africa. And while there were doubts over their future in the Indian dressing room after the series in Australia, their match-winning knocks on Saturday will have reassured both the team management and selectors as well as their supporters they can still deliver at the highest level of the sport, even if only in one format.
‘Virat and Rohit have not come back, they never went away’
Their match-winning efforts also drew praise from experts and fans alike, who felt that Rohit and Kohli had simply carried on from where they had left off in the Champions Trophy, where they both starred in India’s triumphant campaign with the bat.
“Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli are two of the greatest white-ball players to have played the game. It was great to watch them, but it just told us why they are great. And to think that there was such a lot of talk about people who three matches ago won a Player of the Match in a Champions Trophy final, someone who four matches ago won a Player of the Match in a Champions Trophy semi-final…” popular commentator Harsha Bhogle said during the post-game analysis on Cricbuzz.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“So Virat and Rohit have not come back, they never went. They never went away from the ODI game,” he added.`
Zaheer urges team management, selectors to have faith in Ro-Ko
Indian pace icon Zaheer Khan was also part of the same show as Bhogle, and urged the Indian team management and selectors to have faith in Ro-Ko, especially after their match-winning contributions in Sydney.
“It was important for both of them this series in many ways than one. There is no doubt about that. There is brushing aside the fact that at the end of the day the team will have a plan for the World Cup. It’s just about what kind of hunger they have. How they’re going to look at the whole situation. All those things also were going to matter, and I think today’s display was just going to put all those discussions to rest.
“That is something which is evident. It’s about having enough faith and a clear-cut strategy and plan. You can’t see series by series. You’ve just got to see ‘Okay fine, this is where we’re at, these two have been great servants of the game, great servants for the Indian team. Contributed immensely. If this is what they want, let’s just have that faith,” Zaheer said after the match.
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Here are some of the reactions from other ex-cricketers and experts, including Irfan Pathan, Aakash Chopra and Ian Bishop: