October 16, 2013 saw the birth of one of the most destructive top threes in cricketing history. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli had already established themselves as the leaders of India’s top order with their ICC Champions Trophy victory earlier that year, but this match against Australia at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur established them as the best of the best.

Rohit Sharma scored 141*, Shikhar Dhawan hit 95, and Virat Kohli scored the fastest century of his career and the fastest ODI century by an Indian player with an unbeaten 52-ball ton. India scored 362 runs for the loss of a solitary wicket in just 43.3 overs, scoring at 8.32 rpo in a blistering chase.

Earlier in the match, Australia had ridden scores of 50+ from all the players in their top five to work their way to 359/5. Phil Hughes scored 83 runs opening the batting alongside Aaron Finch, while Glenn Maxwell scored 53(32) to finish off the innings at the death.

The star for the Australians, however, was captain George Bailey, who worked his way to a brilliant 92* off just 50 deliveries, including five maximums on the way.

India's top three go ballistic

In response, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan set an incredible platform for the home team in Jaipur. With India already having lost the opening ODI of this bumper seven-match series, producing a key result was the focus in this match.

In 26 overs, the pair piled on 176 runs, taking advantage of the powerplay to stay ahead of the rate and ensure no wickets were being lost. Unfortunately, Dhawan was dismissed on 95, dismissed by James Faulkner narrowly short of his century.

For Australia, however, it wasn’t good news as Virat Kohli was introduced to the crease. He was all-guns-blazing right from the off, hitting eight boundaries and seven maximums. With the insurance of Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni still to come behind him, and the openers having set a great foundation, Kohli had the license to take the attack to the Australian bowlers.

Rohit Sharma also brought up a century down the other end while Kohli worked his way to a century. This was only Rohit’s third ODI century, and first as the new opener for the Indian team. This was the innings that set the foundation for Rohit to become one of the great openers in Indian cricket.

India’s landmark victory over Australia allowed them to go on an win the series 3-2 overall, one of the peaks of a phenomenal spell at the top of ODI cricket.

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