Veteran cricketer Shikhar Dhawan’s time with the Indian team ended abruptly, as Shubman Gill was considered ahead of him in white-ball cricket. The pair, together with Rohit Sharma, constituted one of the most potent opening combinations in ODI cricket, especially considering their earlier record-breaking exploits. The partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit is the fourth in ODI history to score 5000 runs as openers.
Only three other pairings in the 50-over format have accomplished the feat: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, and Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes with Haynes. The southpaw talked about their friendship and gave Rohit credit for his accomplishments in international cricket. He said that their collaboration has previously provided team India with the means to pursue large totals.
“The team has benefited greatly from my partnership with Rohit and his assistance at the top of the order, which has laid the groundwork for successful chases and large totals.
“I genuinely attribute many of my greatest performances to Rohit’s assistance,” Shikhar Dhawan stated in an interview with The Times of India.
“That feeling of security and comfort is provided by Rohit on the other end. I believe that our two best innings were against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai, where we put up a 210-run partnership for the first wicket, and against Australia in the fourth One-Day International at Mohali in 2019.”
Dhawan, who now exclusively plays in the Indian Premier League, has performed admirably with Punjab Kings (PBKS) during the past few seasons. In spite of this, he is well down the hierarchy. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill will be given precedence, thus his door to India may be blocked, but a strong IPL before the T20 World Cup could open him new opportunities.
Remarkably, PBKS placed eighth in the previous competition. With the intention of getting better in the IPL 2024, the team signed Chris Woakes, Rilee Rossouw, and Harshal Patel among a few other players at the auction.