Generous Shikhar Dhawan sings Rohit Sharma praises

Rohit & Dhawan (Photo Source: Twitter)

Veteran cricketer Shikhar Dhawan’s run with the Indian team ended abruptly, as Shubman Gill was considered ahead of him in white-ball cricket. Along with Rohit Sharma, the duo formed one of the most dangerous opening partnerships in ODI cricket particularly as they broke multiple records in the past.

Dhawan and Rohit’s partnership stands fourth in ODI history to cross the 5000-run mark as openers. Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly, Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden, and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes are the only other duos to achieve the feat in the 50-overs format. Speaking about their camaraderie, the southpaw credited Rohit for his success in international cricket. He mentioned that their partnership gave the foundation to team India to chase down big totals in the past.

“My collaboration with Rohit & his support at the other end at the top of the order has been instrumental in providing strong starts to the team, setting the foundation for successful chases and big totals. I seriously give credit for a lot of my best performances to Rohit’s support,” Dhawan said while talking to The Times of India.

“Rohit on the other end gives that sense of comfort and assurance. I think our best innings was a 193-run opening stand against Australia in the fourth ODI at Mohali in 2019 & the second best will be against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai where we put together a 210-run stand for the first wicket,” he added.

Dhawan now features only in the Indian Premier League and has done well for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the last couple of editions. Despite so, he is far behind in the pecking order. The India door might be closed for him as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill will be given priority but a good IPL before the T20 World Cup can change things.

Notably, PBKS finished eighth in the last edition of the competition. They would aim to improve in IPL 2024 and with that goal, the franchise signed Harshal Patel, Rilee Rossouw, and Chris Woakes among a few others in the auction.