'Wanted to start fresh' - Rohit and Kohli roll back the years in Sydney

For likely one final time in Australia, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli turned the clock back with an unbroken 168-run partnership to take India to a win in front of a full house SCG, comprised primarily of Indian fans. Then the highest and third-highest centurions of the format signed off with emotional words.

It was at the SCG back in 2008, in the first final of the CB Series, that Rohit first announced himself on the international scene with a half-century as he and Sachin Tendulkar chased down 240. Rohit scored his 33rd ODI century at the same venue to end his love affair with Australia as the player of the match and the player of the series.

"I've always loved coming here," Rohit told the broadcasters after the match. "I enjoy playing cricket here in Australia. Fond memories of 2008, and nice way to finish, getting that knock and getting that win as well. I don't know if we'll be coming back to Australia, but it was fun all these years that we played here. A lot of good memories, bad memories, but all in all, I'll take the cricket that I played here."

Rohit and Kohli now play one format of the three, which can leave them short on game time as India plan for the 2027 ODI World Cup, but Rohit spoke for both of them when he said they are loving what they are doing. "Looks like it, yes," Rohit said when asked if the "two old dogs still had sting in the tail".

"We enjoy our cricket, most importantly, no matter what. Accolades we've achieved, but it's important that whenever you get an opportunity to play, you've got to come and start fresh, and that's what we did. When we arrived in Perth, forget what has happened in the last 15-17 years, wanted to start fresh, and that's how I personally look at all the games that I've played. I'm sure it'll be the same for Virat as well, but enjoyed playing these three games."

Kohli didn't have the greatest of times as he scored consecutive ducks for the first time in his ODI career, but turned it around with a vintage half-century to see the chase through, in the company of his old partner in crime.

"Good to be out of the pond, honestly," Kohli said to huge cheers from the crowd that hung on to every word. "You've scored so many runs in international cricket, but then the game shows you everything. Even at this stage, 37 and not many days old and still can feel like I don't know how to get a run. I mean this game is amazing.

"That's why we love batting, we love batsmanship, and it's so challenging when it's not going your way and just to find your rhythm again. Go out there, having a situation to play in always is something that always brings out the best in me. And yeah, when Rohit's already batting there, it's pretty easy to kind of keep rotating strike. We understand each other's game pretty well. So again, really good to have a big partnership and another match-finishing partnership for us."

During the course of this win, the duo reached 5483 partnership runs and went past the alliance of Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan to No. 3 on the most prolific ODI partners. They are nearly 3000 behind Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who had the advantage of opening together and thus batting together more often, but they can still go past Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who added 5992 runs in each other's company.

"I think from very early on, it was pretty clear that we both understood the game pretty well," Kohli said. "That's the only reason you can play for so long. When you have an understanding of the situation, your own game, and how to apply it in different situations. That's something that we've always taken a lot of pride in.

"And when we're back together, of course, we understand we're probably the most experienced players now, but even back in the day, we used to think if we have a big partnership, the kind of strokes we can play, we can really take the game away from the opposition. And it was just about communication, staying in the game.

"I think it all started from that 2013 series against Australia at home, when we really started getting those big partnerships together and really taking the game on. From then on, it was pretty clear the opposition also knew if these guys are in for 20 overs together, any total is chaseable, and the game's never done in the opposition's favour. I've really enjoyed batting with Rohit, and, yeah, good to know we've scored a few together."