Perth ODI: Rohit special powers India to 309

Rohit crossed the 150-mark off 155 balls, and in doing so, crossed 1000 ODI runs against Australia in 19 innings, one less than Sachin Tendulkar. But that was the start of a fantastic counterattack from Australia as Smith and Bailey stitched 242 runs for the third wicket and scripted an easy victory.

Pacer Barinder Sran, who made his debut for India in the match, took three wickets and impressed with his performance.

Sran looked to have had a third wicket in the very next ball, with George Bailey appearing to glove one through to Dhoni on his first delivery. Now what it will do is fuel the DRS debate once again.

“Especially here, if you put the ball in the right areas, pitch it up and bowl full and try and swing the ball, you’re as good a chance as anyone of taking a wicket”, Paris said.

They played the Indian spinners easily as Jadeja and Ashwin looked ineffective.

But then Steven Smith and Geroge Bailey chose to teach the Indian bowlers a lesson and started going after them. Both batsmen scored centuries, with Smith scoring 149 and Bailey getting 112 runs.

India lost Shikhar Dhawan for just nine but fellow opener Sharma set his mind to the task and, alongside Kohli, he set about racking up the runs. Rohit is batting on 130 n.o while Virat is batting on 79.

Scott Boland and Joel Paris have been chosen to make their debuts as support to Josh Hazlewood with the new ball. Asked about the mood of the five-match ODI series, which gets under way at Perth’s WACA ground on Tuesday, Lehmann said he expected it would be “the same” as previous ones.

Sharma smashed 13 fours and cleared the boundary seven times to the delight of the large contingent of Indian fans at the ground. The match-winning innings from the captain was nothing short than a masterclass.

Pandey or Mann could take up the position vacated by Suresh Raina, but there is the possibility of MS Dhoni moving up the order and asking a debutant to bat lower down. “He has been pretty impressive in the two games that he has played”, Arun told reporters late Saturday after India’s back-to-back wins in warm-up games against a Western Australian XI on Friday and Saturday.

With the dismissal of Kohli, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18) came in.

The atmosphere in Perth ahead of the opener of the ODI series between the top two ODI teams in the world could not be more different than if it was played in India.