The opener thrashed an unbeaten 171 to push India to 3-309 in the opening one-day international against Australia in Perth on Tuesday.

It was the highest ODI score against Australia in Australia.

Sharma now owns four of the top 20 all-time highest ODI scores against Australia. He averages 68.46 against the hosts – no one has a higher ODI mark against Australia.

Yet Sharma admitted he would be under the pump in today’s second ODI on a Gabba deck expected to produce even more runs.

Sharma said he and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan plus No.3 Virat Kohli were feeling the weight of expectation.

“Considering we have got a couple of newcomers in the middle order…the top three batsmen – myself, Virat and Shikhar – it is a big responsibility on the three of us to bat as long as possible,” he said.

“When we bat we know that we are not too worried about the strike rate because we always know that we could cover in the end.

“Being a top-order batsman it is my responsibility to bat as long as possible and get the team to a good score – that’s how I look at it.”

Indian selectors raised eyebrows when they overlooked IPL star and batting mainstay Suresh Raina for ODI tour of Australia.

They injected Manish Pandey, a batsman with just two ODIs to his name.

Adding to Sharma’s anxiety is the fact that he broke Windies great Viv Richards’ record for highest ODI score against Australia in Australia, and India still lost in Perth.

“To be honest when you bat first you actually don’t know what is a defendable score,” said Sharma who has converted four of his nine ODI tons into 150-plus scores.

“You get 340, and again it is not a safe score anymore.

Sharma said new rules which ditch the powerplay and allow the fielding team to have five fielders outside the circle for the last 10 overs was another reason to “bat long”.

“It is very important for the batsman who is set and batting well to carry on as long as possible because that is how you can stretch your target and get to a competitive score,” he said.

-AAP