India vs Pakistan: Rohit-Dhawan toss many records aside, closing in on Tendulkar-Sehwag

MS Dhoni had seen enough, he had identified the potential in Rohit Sharma and he had seen him fade away in the middle order. He kept persisting with him, Rohit kept deceiving. Dhoni decided to intervene. He did not drop him, he bumped him up the order, he asked him to open the batting.

He (Dhoni) just came up to me and said ‘I want you to open the innings as I am confident that you will do well. Since you can play both cut and pull shot well, you have the qualities to succeed as an opener’,” Rohit said about the decision.

It has been a joyous ride ever since the right-hander has not averaged less than 50 in any innings ever since. And then came Shikhar Dhawan, smashed Australia on his Test debut and paired Rohit at the top of the order for India. They compliment each other very well, they understand each other’s game and they have prolific against the white ball.

The match against Pakistan was no different, yes, the score they were chasing was just about par, but the pitch had quickened up. Shikhar took the early charge, Rohit was content in handing the strike over to him. They blossomed as the innings progressed and after the new-ball burst, Pakistan never looked like defeating them. They put together a stand of 210 for the first wicket, which was the first double century stand they had shared.

The Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan pair also sprinted past Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma to become India’s 5th best partners in accumulating runs for India in ODIs.

Shikhar and Rohit have completed 500 partnership runs this year for the 1st wicket, thus becoming the 3rd pair to reach this feat in 2018. This was their third stand of 50 or more runs, and it drills home the point about their consistency. They have now shared 13-century partnership in ODIs.

First Published: Sep 24, 2018 09:47 IST