India captain Rohit Sharma posted a few throwback pictures and shared a heartwarming farewell message for his former opening partner Shikhar Dhawan. Rohit took to the social media platform 'X', formerly Twitter to post the pictures and wrote a beautiful caption to sum up his robust bond with Shikhar.
"From sharing rooms to sharing lifetime memories on the field. You always made my job easier from the other end. THE ULTIMATE JATT," Rohit posted on X.
Shikhar announced his retirement from all forms of international and domestic cricket on Saturday, August 24 and pulled the curtains on a glorious playing career for India. His last appearance for the Men in Blue had come in a Test match against Bangladesh in December 2022.
Notably, both Rohit and Shikhar enjoyed a memorable partnership on and off the field of play. The pair opened in 115 innings for India in ODIs and amassed 5148 runs at a stunning average of 45.55.
They are the fourth-most successful pair in the history of ODI cricket behind India's Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, Australia's Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist and West Indies' Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.
Top five opening pairs in ODI cricket
| Pair |
Span |
Innings |
Runs |
Average |
100-run stands |
Fifty-run stands |
| Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar |
1996-2007 |
136 |
6609 |
49.32 |
21 |
23 |
| Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden |
2001-2008 |
114 |
5372 |
48.39 |
16 |
29 |
| Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes |
1979-1991 |
102 |
5150 |
52.55 |
15 |
24 |
| Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan |
2013-2022 |
115 |
5148 |
45.55 |
18 |
15 |
| Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock |
2013-2019 |
93 |
4198 |
46.64 |
11 |
14 |
The indomitable pair also enjoyed a prolific run in the shortest format of the game. They opened together in 52 innings for India in T20Is and accumulated 1743 runs with the help of four-century stands and seven half-century stands.
They are also the fourth-most successful pair in the T20I circuit behind Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan, Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling of Ireland and KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
