New Delhi, India
Rohit Sharma-led India beat Australia by six wickets in a high-scoring thriller in Hyderabad on Sunday (September 25) in what was the series decider of the three T20Is between the two heavyweight teams. With the series evenly poised at 1-1, the home side went past Aaron Finch-led Australia by chasing 187 on the penultimate ball of the contest to take the series 2-1.
With this win, skipper Rohit also attained a huge feat. He surpassed his predecessor Virat Kohli to take the second spot in the list of most wins as India's T20I captain. Former captain MS Dhoni, who led India to the 2007 T20 World Cup title, remains at the top but Rohit has gone past Virat and will now aim to take the top spot in future.
Most T20I wins as Indian captain
42 - MS Dhoni, in 72 matches
33 - Rohit Sharma, in 42 matches
32 - Virat Kohli, in 50 matches
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Following India's six-wicket win in Hyderabad, Rohit pointed out at the post-match presentation, "Biggest positive was different individuals stepping up and delivering. You feel good about it as a management. Margin of error in T20s is small. We took our chances, we were brave as well. Sometime it doesn't come off. There are areas to improve as well."
At the Hyderabad T20I, India opted to bowl first and rode on Axar Patel's 3 for 33 to restrict Australia to 186-7, courtesy of Cameron Green's 52, Tim David's 54 and Daniel Sams' 28 not out. In reply, Suryakumar Yadav's impressive 69, off 36 balls, and Virat's crucial 63 laid the foundation for the Men in Blue before Hardik Pandya's 16-ball 25 not-out closed the run-chase for India.