'Rohit Sharma's support behind lot of my best performances’: Shikhar Dhawan

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the most prolific run-scorers in international cricket. His partnership with Rohit Sharma will always be one of the biggest reasons behind India’s domination in ODIs in the last one decade. Together, they formed a formidable opening duo, laying the groundwork for imposing big totals and orchestrating memorable run-chases in the 50-overs format.

Dhawan and Rohit amassed an impressive 5,148 runs while opening for Team India in ODI cricket. This feat makes them the fourth pair in ODI history to surpass the 5000-run milestone while opening the innings.

While Dhawan has now fallen down the pecking order, Rohit has taken over as the captain of the side in all three formats. Speaking about his partnership with Rohit, Dhawan attributed much of the success to the Team India skipper’s support from the other end.

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“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 in an interview with the Times of India.

Dhawan even spoke about the key moments during their association and talked about their opening stand which was a 193-run partnership against Australia in the fourth ODI at Mohali back in 2019. The southpaw also recalled a memorable performance put up by them- a 210-run stand for the first wicket against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai.

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Dhawan last played for India in 2022 when he scored three runs off eight balls in a match that was dominated by Ishan Kishan. The India wicketkeeper had dazzled in that fixture with a double century (210) against Bangladesh at Chattogram.

The emergence of Kishan and Shubman Gill has forced the selectors to look ahead and Dhawan will now have to re-stake his claim with an excellent series of performances in the next IPL edition. Dhawan has so far featured in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is. He will lead the Punjab Kings franchise in the 2024 edition of the IPL. In the last IPL season, the 38-year-old had amassed 373 runs in 11 games.