NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli once again joined forces to rescue India from a series whitewash, stitching an unbeaten 168-run stand that powered the team to a commanding nine-wicket win over Australia in the third ODI at the SCG on Saturday.

Rohit starred with a brilliant 121 not out, while Kohli anchored the chase with an unbeaten 74.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir lauded the star duo's match-winning partnership, emphasising how both Rohit and Kohli led from the front and finished the chase together for India.

"The partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma was outstanding, very clinical partnership and a special mention to Rohit another outstanding hundred and most important that you finished it off and Virat as well," Gambhir said in a video posted by BCCI on social media.

The former captain Rohit, who dominated the series with Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards, was also named Impact Player of the Series.

Rohit credited his success to preparing "on his own terms," a mindset that came from realising that life extends beyond professional commitments.

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"Since the time I started playing, I never had four to five months to prepare for a series, so I wanted to utilise that. I wanted to do things in my own way, on my own terms, and that actually worked out well for me, understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career," Rohit told the BCCI website.

Rohit cherished the big, match-winning partnership that he had with long-time associate Kohli.

"I enjoy playing in Australia, today also...to get a big one and get the team through. When we started to bat, obviously, it was a bit of a challenge with two new balls, the pitch was slightly misbehaving at the start and we knew that once the shine of the ball is off, it will get a bit easier.

"Fantastic partnership (with Kohli) after a long long time. I think we did not have a 100-run partnership for a long time. It was good to get that partnership from a team's perspective, looking at how we were placed at one point.