Rohit Sharma was always reckoned to be a special talent, and the rapturous Diwali holiday crowd marvelled at the pristine quality of his classy double century on Saturday.

 

The knock virtually knocked the stuffing out of a flummoxed Australian team in the seventh and final ODI at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

 

The 57-run win gave India a 3-2 series win though the massive and unexpected resistance from the Australian ninth wicket pair of James Faulkner (116; 73b,11x4, 6x6) and Clint McKay (18) spread panic through the Indian ranks. Their 115-run partnership in just 89 balls was a credit to the never-say-die spirit of the Australians, whose response to India's mammoth 383 was rousing.

 

Local lad Vinay Kumar (9-0-102-1) was taken to the cleaners, but Shami Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja struck telling blows and made the difference.

 

Earlier, man of the match Rohit Sharma's languid elegance was captivating and reassuring. He used the cricket bat not like a bludgeon, but like an orchestra conductor's baton. And when he is on song, like he was on Saturday, there are few better sights in the game.

 

The Australians, who opted to field first, were bewildered when Rohit suddenly switched to overdrive. Till then they must have been reasonably satisfied with the way the decider was going.

 

They had India pegged back at 250 for four at the start of the 43rd over and must have fancied chasing a target around 300 runs. It was at this stage that Rohit Sharma decided to switch to a higher gear.

 

Fours and sixes were sprayed into the stands with the relentless consistency of machine-gun fire as the final eight overs yielded a mind boggling 133 runs. It was an astounding demonstration of classy power-hitting. There was plenty of finesse and grace in the execution.

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