"Effortless Vintage Rohit" - Fans erupt as Rohit Sharma smashes sizzling 81 in IND vs AUS 3rd ODI

Indian captain Rohit Sharma produced a sensational knock of 81 off just 57 balls against Australia in the third ODI of their three-match series in Rajkot on Wednesday, September 27. Although he will be disappointed that he missed out on a well-deserved hundred, Rohit has given the Men in Blue a solid platform and has set up the chase of 353 runs nicely.

With Shubman Gill rested and Ishan Kishan being unwell, India had a new opening partnership in Washington Sundar and Rohit Sharma. Although Sundar struggled a bit, Rohit ensured that he took on the Australian bowling from the other end and got to his half-century within the first powerplay itself.

While fans on Twitter were disappointed to see Rohit Sharma not convert his fifty into a hundred, they hailed him for some sensational sixes that he hit and for showing shades of his vintage best. Here are some of the reactions:

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Rohit Sharma within touching distance of Chris Gayle's six-hitting record

Rohit now has 551 sixes in international cricket, just two behind West Indies legend Chris Gayle (553). The Indian captain smashed as many as six sixes in his innings in Rajkot and took his team off to a flying start.

After adding 74 runs with Sundar for the first wicket, Rohit added another 70 with Virat Kohli and it seemed like the Men in Blue would cut loose, with both batters well set. However, both Rohit and Kohli were dismissed by Glenn Maxwell, and Australia came right back into the game.

This is an important game for both Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul as this could be the exact situation they might encounter in the World Cup. With the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja still to come, India will want Rahul and Shreyas to take the game deep and set up the backend of the chase.