India openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are often labelled as one of the most exciting and fiery draws in international cricket. But, this only holds on in a format played with white ball, and that too, majorly in Asian conditions — the recent history suggests as much.
On Sunday night when the two came up with 210-run partnership to sink Pakistan for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup, they eclipsed the 201-run partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag set up against New Zealand in 2009.
In the process, they also registered the highest opening stand by an Indian pair in run-chases along with producing the best against Pakistan till date. The previous one was by Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar's 159-run stand in 1998.
Great success no doubt. However, considering that the World Cup next year will be played in England, these two batsmen have not fared that well, when combining together to bat outside the continent this year.
The recent ODI series in England and in South Africa, early this year stand testimony to this .
While Sunday's partnership is welcome news, it remains to be seen if they can replicate this in England next year.
Among the two, while Rohit showed brilliance with a century in the first ODI against England, Dhawan's prowess remain a suspect in overseas conditions even with the white ball. And, it was the case with the southpaw even in the Test matches.
Unpredictable Dhawan
The basic question that every cricket lover may ask is how did Indian openers, Dhawan in particular, turn it around within a span of just one week from the England tour?
Suddenly, the journey from London to Dubai is so smooth for Indian openers. Is it because of the white ball? Or is it because of pitches? Or does it have more to do with temperament?
Dhawan, known for being flashy outside the off-stump and for not moving his feet swiftly, has always faced criticism for failing to negotiate swing. The result was in front of everyone as the Delhi opener had scores of 26, 13, 35, 44, 23, 17, 3 and 1 in the Test series, and 40, 36 and 44 in the three ODIs.
Dhawan's failure must also be a lesson to our selectors, getting swayed away by his 107 against Afghanistan in Bengaluru, once again ignoring his failure on South African pitches earlier this year.
Even Sharma struggled for the most parts of the six-match ODI series in South Africa, and except for a century in the fifth ODI, his scores read: 20, 15, 0, 5, 15.
Prithvi, Rahul in radar
Coming back to friendly territory of Dubai, Dhawan and Sharma swatted aside any such apprehensions with consistent success in the Asia Cup so far, coming up with three 50-plus stands out of four matches.
Dhawan's blistering knock of 114 runs was so dominant that he made a potent Pakistan attack look pedestrian. Sharma was equally ruthless in his approach during his unbeaten 111.
Called 'Gabbar' and 'Hitman' by their fans, the two Indian openers have already piled on more than 3,500 runs in 81 innings together in ODIs. In a way, this pair has also kept KL Rahul, considered technically better equipped than Dhawan, warming the benches.
Will it remain the same till 2019 World Cup in England? Or will the famous horses for courses be applied in the future?
Sharma and Dhawan might be good for now, but success in Asia Cup so far has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Rahul and Prithvi Shaw should be kept in the loop.
The options should be kept in play. The recent success of Sharma and Dhawan shouldn't make it an open and shut case.
