Former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan said the Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and that’s what makes them a successful opening pair in ODIs and T20Is. During a chat on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan said Dhawan understands that Rohit takes his time to get going at the start and takes charge while the deputy skipper trusts Sjhikhar to taker the pressure off and the roles reverse in the latter part of the game. 

Dhawan and Rohit started opening together since the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and made an immediate impact in India’s title-winning run.

Dhawan and Rohit are at the 4th spot on the list of opening pairs with most runs in ODIs with 4802 runs and second on the Indian list behind Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who amassed 6609 runs.

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Describing the same, Irfan said, “We know Shikhar plays very freely. We all know how Rohit Sharma is able to change gears very quickly, but he takes time early on. Shikhar understands when Rohit Sharma needs time, for at least a few overs to get himself going. So, he used to take the charge and I think that’s what makes him successful. And as soon as the spinners came and Rohit Sharma got settled, he took all the pressure away from Shikhar Dhawan.”

Over the last 7 years, Rohit and Dhawan have been involved in many memorable match-winning partnerships. In a recent interaction with Australia batsman David Warner, Rohit revealed how he got used to Shikhar’s habit of not taking the strike in the very first ball of the innings over the years.

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Rohit had said, “I remember way back in 2013 when I started opening for India in limited-overs. So I told him to take the strike as I had not faced the bowlers with the new ball. And he was like, no ‘Rohit, you have been playing for a while this is my first tour’. And I said I mean the guy who is a regular opener does not want to take the strike. Then I took the strike and Morne Morkel was bowling and I did not see the first three balls because I was not expecting the bounce.”