The third double century in ODIs, most sixes by a batsman in an innings, 1000 ODI runs in the calendar year – Rohit Sharma used his bat to etch his name in the record books, in Bengaluru. He also batted India to a 57-run win in the seventh ODI and a 3-2 series win.

The Mumbai lad joined the august company of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag – the only two other men who have breached the 200-run barrier in ODIs. He helped himself to 16 sixes, hence shattering Shane Watson’s (15) record of most sixes in an innings. With 491 runs in the series under his belt, one cannot help but think, ‘Is this the turning point in what would one day become a great career?’

Rohit’s heroics meant Australia were chasing 384. Their first blow was the pulled hamstring of Shane Watson as he ran in to bowl his sixth over. He could not bowl more than five overs and came in to bat only at No. 7. It didn’t help that they lost the early wicket of Aaron Finch, lbw by Mohammad Shami in the second over.

In Watson’s absence, Brad Haddin was sent one-down to build the innings and maintain the required run-rate. What Australia needed was a big partnership but instead, lost three more wickets before the 17th over. Phil Hughes got caught at midwicket by Yuvraj off Ashwin’s first ball, George Bailey committed a suicide between the wickets and Haddin was bowled by a classic Ashwin off-spinner.

Glenn Maxwell (60 0ff 22 balls), walking in to bat at 74 for 4, started his own little party. He raced to a half-century in 18 balls – the fastest in ODIs by an Australian and against India – with the help of three fours and six sixes. 23 of those runs came off one over from Vinay Kumar. The pacer continued to bowl short – like he has throughout the series – and got hit around the park. Vinay eventually got Maxwell out but it was a case of the batsman miscuing another poor short ball. Vinay ended the match with figures of 9-0-102-1.

Thanks to Vinay’s inexplicable continuous ploy of slow, bowling back-of-a-length lollies, an injured Watson scored 49 (22 balls) before being dismissed in a rather unlucky fashion. An edge off his bat took the ball on Dhoni’s knee from where it rebounded to Mohammad Shami at short third man.

Then it was James Faulkner’s (116 off 73 balls) turn to swing his bat and take the tally of sixes hit in the match to a new high. Instead, he ended up doing much more than that. He beat Matthew Hayden’s record of the fastest ODI century by an Aussie, as he reached the landmark in 57 balls. En route he posted 115 runs for the ninth wicket with McKay.

In all, 38 sixes were hit by both teams, which is a new world record in ODIs. Amid the carnage, Ashwin stood out with figures of 10-0-51-2.

Earlier, as they have done right through the series, openers Rohit Sharma (209) and Shikhar Dhawan (60) gave a strong platform on which the Indian innings was built. And once again, the two showed tremendous understanding in the middle. When Rohit took time to bat himself in, Dhawan took charge by creaming Clint McKay and Nathan Coulter-Nile for three fours each in the third and fifth over respectively. The left-hander reached his half-century in 43 balls before being dismissed lbw by Xavier Doherty.

Rohit got off to a slow start, bringing up his fifty off 71 balls. His innings gained pace gradually and eventually ended up being a six-hitting spree. It all began with a strike over the long-on fence off Glenn Maxwell in the 26th over. After that, the ball was seen flying around in all directions – extra-cover, cover, long-off, over the bowler’s head, long-on, midwicket and square leg. His 16 sixes were equally divided between the pacers and the spinners, with Clint McKay being at the receiving end most number of times, five. Out of the 158 balls he faced, Rohit utilized only 42 to go from 100 to 200.

Rohit saw Virat Kohli getting run-out for a duck, Suresh Raina being caught plumb in front of the wicket off Doherty and Yuvraj Singh get out to a loose shot followed by an outstanding catch by Brad Haddin. And then he was joined by MS Dhoni. Together they scored 167 runs in 94 balls.

While Rohit went about smashing one record after the other, Dhoni was constructing one of his typical one-day innings. After playing himself in, he sent the helicopter flying high in the sky and out of the ground. The last seven balls that Dhoni faced before being run out off the last ball of the innings fetched him 6, 1, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4. India scored 100 runs in the last five overs. Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma for his knock of 209 runs off 158 balls with 12 fours and 16 sixes. Man of the Series: Rohit Sharma for scoring 491 runs in the series with one double century, one century and a fifty.

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