Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on Rohit Sharma's batting approach in the third and final ODI against New Zealand in Indore on Tuesday (January 24).

The Indian skipper led the charge with aggressive batting at the top, slamming 101 off 85 balls and adding 212 runs for the opening wicket Shubman Gill (112 off 78 balls) to propel the hosts to a mammoth 385/9 in 50 overs.

In the second half, the Indian bowlers stepped up to the plate, bundling out the Kiwis for 295 in 41.2 overs to register a comprehensive 90-run victory.

"I like this Rohit Sharma, in this T20s as well. This is the way to play. 100s have to be incidental, they have to be the byproduct of the way which you play and when India sets a platform like that, despite a collapse, India had a lot of runs on the board. This is the Rohit Sharma I like," Manjrekar told Star Sports after the match.

With this defeat, the Black Caps didn’t only lose the series 3-0 but also conceded the No. 1 ODI rankings to India.

One of the main reasons behind the visitors’ listless performance was the absence of some of their senior players like Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult. However, Manjrekar feels it wouldn’t have mattered since India were dominant in all three ODIs.

"New Zealand were missing three or four key players, but that does not take anything away from India, especially tonight where they lost the toss," Manjrekar said.

"India put the runs on the board, so much so that it almost makes the opposition chase the total down despite the dew advantage. This is something that you can keep looking at and enjoy," he added.

Manjrekar pointed out that the margin of victory shows India's dominance in the game.

"When a team is sent to bat first after losing the toss, the team that bats second generally gets very close but look at the margin today - a win by 90 runs. So well done by the batters and the bowlers," he concluded.