‘He’s an Idiot’: Rohit Sharma Recalls Opening With Shikhar Dhawan for First Time in ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are arguably the best opening pair going around in limited-overs cricket. They are known to enjoy batting with each other as their coordination in the middle is impeccable. Shikhar and Rohit have together aggregated 4,802 ODI runs, fourth-most by an opening pair. The two batsmen are also known to share a great bond among them. However, the start of the tale wasn’t quite smooth. While talking to David Warner in a live Instagram session, Rohit recalled a hilarious incidence from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 where the two stars opened for the first time alongside each other. Rohit Sharma Shares Picture of Shot Which He Never Trained but ‘Loved’ the Result.

Warner, who also used to open with Shikhar Dhawan while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL, initiated the discussion by asking if the southpaw also tells him to face the first ball while opening the innings. In reply, Rohit called his opening partner an ‘idiot’ and said that Dhawan doesn’t like to face the fast bowlers while he likes to attack the spinners. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina React to Praveen Kumar’s Throwback Picture, Recall ‘Fun Days’ With Indian Team (See Post).

“He’s an idiot, what can I say. He doesn’t like to face the first ball. He likes to take on the spinners, but he does not like to take on the fast bowlers. I remember back in 2013, the day when I started opening batting for India in limited-overs cricket. I remember it was my second innings as an opener in the Champions Trophy. We were playing against South Africa... against guys like Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn. I had never faced them with the new ball. So, I told Shikhar, you gotta take the strike, man” said Rohit.

“But he was like ‘no, Rohit. You have been playing for a while. This is my first over. I can’t. You gotta do it’. I said ‘the guy who opens regularly does not want to take the strike’. So, I took the strike, and the first few balls Morkel bowled, I did not even see. I was not expecting the bounce, I was not ready for it. I didn’t know how the new ball would do, that too on an England surface. As far back as I remember, I was absolutely bowled that day as well,” added Rohit while Warner burst into laughter.

Further in the conversation, the right-handed batsman revealed how ‘annoying’ Dhawan can be while batting. “Sometimes, he is very annoying as well. In the middle, I am setting up the plan, ‘this bowler is doing this, so we gotta do this’. Five seconds later, he will go, ‘okay, what did you say’. You are under tremendous pressure in the middle of the game, and this guy says all these things, it kind of makes you frustrated. You don’t know how to react,” he said.

Talking about Dhawan’s running between the wickets, Rohit said: “He also has this weird thing, when he defends the ball, he takes one or two steps forward. For a non-striker, it’s so confusing whether he is going to run or not. Now, over the years batting alongside him, I have decided, I am not going to run unless I see the ball is going in the gap. I have missed many runs doing that. But I have no regrets. I was in trouble a number of time because of that,” the Mumbai Indians skipper added as Warner continued to laugh.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2020 12:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).