Canberra, Oct 27 (IANS) India head coach Gautam Gambhir commended Rohit Sharma and Harshit Rana for their match-winning performances, leading to a commanding nine-wicket victory over Australia in the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. In the match, Rana took 4-39 while Rohit scored 121 not out – his 33rd century in ODIs.

He also shared a crucial 168-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who scored an unbeaten 74 to chase down 237. Rohit, who now holds the record for the most ODI centuries by a visiting batter in Australia (six hundreds), was also awarded the ‘Impact Player of the Match’ medal by strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux in the dressing room.

“We spoke about turning up, wanting to do something special and we want to be respectful, friendly, and I thought we did everything, ticked all the boxes. Specially to start with, I thought the bowlers were outstanding. The kind of start Australia had, 63 for no loss after 10 overs, and from there to restricting them to 237 was an outstanding effort.

“Special mention to Harshit, that was an outstanding spell. What I want to say is stay humble, stay grounded and keep working hard. It’s just the start and not the end. Then with the bat, I thought that the partnership between Shubman and Rohit was very important, and that between Rohit and Virat was again outstanding.

“A special mention to Rohit for another hundred. Outstanding, and most important thing, is that you finished it off, and Virat as well. Another important thing from the team’s point of view is how clinical we can be in chases, and we were very good,” said Gambhir in a post-series video shared by BCCI on Monday.

With Rohit and Virat now back home after concluding the ODI leg of the Australia tour, Gambhir’s focus will shift to coaching India in the upcoming T20I series starting on October 29 at Manuka Oval in Canberra. India will also travel to Melbourne, Hobart, Gold Coast, and Brisbane for subsequent T20Is against Australia.

— IANS

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