Sydney soaks up that Rohit-Kohli feeling

There was precisely nothing about events at the SCG that hadn't been seen before. A crowd with the majority of support for the visiting side, India playing an excellent game of ODI cricket, a century for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being unbeaten at the end of a run chase.

But in some ways, it did feel different. Quite where the final lap of international cricket ends for Rohit and Kohli remains uncertain but, barring remarkable events, this was a final visit to Australia. For Kohli, especially, it is a place that has played a central role in his storied career across formats: the stunning 133 not out against Sri Lanka in 2012, the 2014-15 tour de force, the 2018 Perth century and captaining a series win, and the MCG in 2022 to name a few.

Both players looked short of a hit in Perth when Australia's new-ball excellence did for them in their first matches since the IPL. In Adelaide, Rohit battled his way to 73 as the ball again nipped around, but Kohli was pinned lbw for another duck by a delivery the bowler, Xavier Bartlett, admitted was meant to be another outswinger. Indian fans had packed both grounds, but the most Kohli could offer was a little wave of the glove as he walked off Adelaide, a city close to his heart.

India lost both matches, so Sydney had nothing riding on it in terms of the series, but the game had been a sellout days in advance. By the end, the crowd had ticked over 40,000, any late arrivals no doubt hastened as they saw the shape of India's scoreboard in the run chase and, for the majority, the closing stages felt like a bit of a party.

But well before Kohli batted, there was a deafening roar in the 23rd over of Australia's innings. Anyone who might have had their back to the action, perhaps getting a coffee, may have wondered what had happened. Kohli had held a sharp catch at square leg to remove Matt Short.

Rohit's neat take at slip to claim Mitch Owen was also well received, although an even bigger roar was saved for Kohli's regulation take at long-on in front of a stand where fans held large cut outs of his head and rose to acclaim him whenever he turned to face them. It was nothing like the more hostile reception in the Test series earlier this year when Kohli had, not for the first time, become a villain for squaring up to Sam Konstas.

However, it was the runs they really wanted. Or, to start with, a run for Kohli. But more on that shortly.

India's chase was soon up and running. Rohit flicked Mitchell Starc through the leg side and bludgeoned a drive through the covers. He had to be alert to get his head out of the line of a Josh Hazlewood delivery that jumped from a short of a length, a barer patch on the pitch which corresponded to the centre circle for Australian Rules Football.

A dismissive pull by Rohit off Hazlewood in the ninth over brought up India's fifty, but even their supporters seemed conflicted, caught between cheering the boundaries and chanting "Kohli, Kohli." Quite how they would have greeted a 10-wicket win, we'll never know.

In the 11th over, Shubman Gill, the new captain of the ODI side and slotted on the batting card between these two icons, nicked a good delivery from Hazlewood. The cheers grew as he began his walk, because of who was coming down the steps of the historic SCG away dressing room.

Kohli's first-ball single towards mid-on was greeted by a deafening roar. Credit to the man himself for playing his part, too, with a smile and a little raise of the glove. A late cut against Adam Zampa followed a top-edged pull against Hazlewood. Then something from the best-of package: a straight drive off Starc.

Not long into the stand between Rohit and Kohli, there was a sense of inevitability about the chase. It was a matter of how many each would make. Many opposition teams have had that feeling over the years. Rohit's fifty came first, then Kohli's, then Rohit went to his hundred from another 42 deliveries. Acceleration has always been a notable feature of his game.

"They've been doing this for the past 15 years for us and to be able to watch them play like this and get the team through unbeaten is really a treat to watch," Gill said. "Seeing the ball fly off their bats and just hearing the sound that comes off their bat is something that tells you how good of a nick they're both in."

For Rohit, it was his fifth hundred against Australia on their turf in ODIs, but his first in a winning cause. That included an unbeaten 171 at the WACA in 2016 which ended in defeat although, in 2008, he made one of the early marks of his career with 66 at the SCG in the first of the tri-series finals where India would take the tournament. Seventeen years later, he's still going.

"I think everyone got what they wanted tonight," Matt Renshaw said with a hint of a smile in the press conference. "But it was amazing to see them. I've never played against them in one-day cricket, and to see the way they went about things tonight, it could have been a tricky chase but they just took the game out of our control.

"The way that they got boundaries when they needed, got off strike when they needed to... as someone who's new to the ODI frame, watching two of the greatest go about it was actually a really good lesson for me to take notes in those middle overs."

When Rohit was here earlier this year, he withdrew himself from the Sydney Test amid a form slump that ultimately ended his career. There was much more at stake on that occasion than however this match played out, and his rather subdued acknowledgment of his century was that of someone not getting carried away.

"I don't know if we'll be coming back to Australia, but it was fun all these years that we played here," Rohit said to the host broadcaster. "A lot of good memories, bad memories, but, all in all, I'll take the cricket that I played here."

As Rohit and Kohli walked off together, they had taken their partnership runs tally to the third-most in ODI history. "I've really enjoyed batting with Rohit, and, yeah, good to know we've scored a few together," Kohli said.

Whether the pair make the 2027 ODI World Cup no one really knows, perhaps even the players themselves. But for those cheering them on from the stands on Saturday night, and millions more on television, that was a question that could wait for another day.