“He told me he just couldn’t do it.”

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are recognized as one of India’s most famous opening pairs in the history of one-day cricket. They joined forces during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England, which the Men in Blue won. The duo subsequently formed a great alliance and won several games for India in one-day international cricket.

Rohit and Dhawan admire each other and have openly congratulated each other several times. The two are also okay with teasing each other and making some funny pranks on each other. In an Instagram Live session with David Warner in May 2020, Hitman opened up about the annoying side of his long-time batting partner. He commented:

“Shikhar never likes to play the first ball. I remember we opened together against South Africa in the Champions Trophy and I asked him if he could handle the first ball, considering I was playing my second match as an opener. He told me this was his first tour and he just couldn’t do it. I faced Morne Morkel first and literally couldn’t see the ball for the first three balls.

“Sometimes it is also very annoying. I tell him the plan we have to execute against a bowler and suddenly after five seconds he asks me what I told him,” the right-handed batsman recalled.

Rohit, however, praised Dhawan and credited the left-hander for his success as a starter. The Mumbai batsman explained:

“I love batting with him because he takes the new ball and it allows me to take some time to calm down. It makes my job at bat easier, although it’s a little irritating.”

Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in August 2024. The left-hander represented India in 269 matches in the three formats, scoring 10,867 runs at an average of 39.66, with 24 hundreds and 55 fifties.

Rohit-Dhawan ranks fourth in the list of batsmen with most runs as an opening pair in ODIs

Rohit-Dhawan is ranked No. 4 in the list of highest-running batting pairs when opening the innings in one-day cricket. The duo opened together for the Men in Blue in 115 innings in ODIs and totaled 5,148 runs at an average of 45.55, with 1,800 partnerships and 15 half-century stands. Their best alliance of 210 faced Pakistan at the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai.

Both opening batsmen hit hundreds in the game as India won the contest by nine wickets, chasing 238. Dhawan was run out on 114 off 100 balls, while Rohit was unbeaten on 111 off 119 deliveries.