#IndvsAus: Rohit Sharma becomes the fastest player to score 1,000 ODI runs against Australia

If India were nervous ahead of the first ODI of an important series down under, they certainly didn't show it, as the men in blue posted a target of 309 for Australia to chase.

Te Australians were sent on a leather hunt courtesy Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as they posted scores of 91 and 171* respectively. Kohli played an uncharacteristic sheet anchor role after he was called into action early in the innings when Josh Hazlewood got Shikhar Dhawan out cheaply for 9.

It was the Rohit Sharma show after that. With Kohli holding the fort at one end, Sharma expressed himself with his wide repertoire of shots.

And even as Virat Kohli lost his wicket for 91 off 97 balls, Rohit Sharma kept going with MS Dhoni at the other end. A clever AB de Villiers-esque shot played off the bowling of James Faulkner summed up the confidence with which the man from Mumbai was batting - as Sharma became the fastest person to score a 1,000 ODI runs against Australia.

Sharma achieved the feat in 19 innings, eclipsing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara who both took more than 20 innings to do so. He finished his knock with 13 fours and 7 sixes, with an impressive strike rate of 104.90.

The Australians are expected to be more comfortable batting in the second innings than they were bowling in the first innings, with experienced campaigners like David Warner, Steve Smith and David Warner at the crease, compared to their relatively inexperienced bowling line up.

But it remains to be seen if they can chase the target set by India.