India’s Rohit Sharma (R) and Virat Kohli celebrate their win in the third one-day international (ODI) men’s cricket match between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney on October 25, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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On Saturday, team India concluded their third ODI with a win. Despite a 2-1 series loss against their long-time rivals, the men in blue managed to give the crowd in Sydney what they wanted, likely for the last time: a classic Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ODI partnership. With an easy target on their back, team India claimed their consolation win by nine wickets, with 69 balls to spare.
India started slowly with 68 runs in 10 overs, as Rohit Sharma continued playing safe against Australia’s pacers. Amid Gill’s dismissal at 24 runs, the only wicket to fall throughout the order, team India cruised to victory, with an unbroken partnership. Rohit claimed his 33rd ODI century from 105 balls, his ninth against Australia. Kohli set out to avenge his previous two games, where he got out for back-to-back ducks, by scoring an unbeaten 74 runs in 81 balls. The 36-year-old is now the second-highest run-scorer (14,255) in ODIs, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
After choosing to bat first, team Australia struggled to add runs to the scoreboard. 29-year-old Matt Renshaw, claiming his first ODI half-century, provided a strong buildup for the Aussies. The rest of the top-notch players left the field with an average of 23-41 scores. The team lost multiple wickets in the middle overs and were eventually bowled out in the 46th over. Thanks to the seamer Harshit Rana’s personal-best efforts of 4-39.
Notably, Australia’s key pacers, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, did not bowl their allotted overs to break the winning partnership. Australia’s strong Ashes duo only bowled 11 overs between them, indicating the team could be looking at the bigger picture in November.
In the post-match interview Rohit and Kohli both visibly ecstatic candidly spoke about their experience of playing on Australian soil, bidding an emotional farewell to the crowd likely for the last time ” We’ve played some of our best cricket here too. So, thank you very much for welcoming us so warmly. You guys are brilliant; we’ve never felt short of support here “, Kohli stated.
Sharma, who started his journey in 2008 in Australia and is now likely to finish a stellar career on a similar note, also spoke during the interview with Adam Gilchrist and Ravi Shastri. “I have fond memories of 2008, and it is a nice way to finish, getting that talk, getting that win, and feeling that connection again. I don’t know if we will be coming back to Australia, but it has been a lot of fun over all these years that we have played here. Thank you, Australia,” Rohit added.
The teams will face each other again in a T20 series starting in Canberra on Wednesday, but both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be indefinitely missing from the squad.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/parasjan/2025/10/25/india-claims-win-against-australia-in-3rd-odi—rivalry-saga-continues/
