One of the major reasons for India's dominance of the 50-over format for several years now has been the opening firm between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The duo has often set the platform for big totals while batting first and has led from the front in big chases. Their formidable presence at the top of the order has also allowed Indian captain Virat Kohli to bat freely in ODIs, which has seen him turn into a modern day great and an all-time legend of the format.
The pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan has been compared to the legendary opening combo of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly and the duo will look to emulate the greats when they take on England in the second ODI in Pune.
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Sharma and Dhawan have together score 4911 partnership runs in ODIs and if they put on 89 runs for the first wicket on Friday then they will become the second Indian pair to post 5000 runs together in ODIs. The first Indian pair to achieve this feat was that of Tendulkar and Ganguly, who hold the record for the most runs scored together in the format.
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{{/usCountry}}Ganguly and Tendulkar batted together in 176 innings and put on 8227, which is miled ahead of the next pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Rohit and Shikhar will become the 7th pair to score 5000 runs together.
Rohit has in fact scored close to 5000 runs in partnership with Virat Kohli as well. India would want these two players to keep doing well in the format and help the team win the 2023 ICC World Cup at home.