Abhishek, Shubman and the beginning of something great

Great opening pairs feed off each other and that is one box this pair from Punjab has already ticked

- Somshuvra Laha

Admit it, the partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill made you feel nostalgic. Not comparing, but the analogy with the past greats is so palpable right now.

Left-right opening pair, truckloads of runs, records set and broken across decades—these were comforts India used to in white ball cricket. In the dressing room right now is Gautam Gambhir, whose equation with Virender Sehwag wasn’t probably exploited to the hilt. But in Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma and Sourav Ganguly-Sachin Tendulkar India had mined all-time greatness.

Still early days, but watching Abhishek and Gill decimate Pakistan felt like an encore, an auspicious beginning toa long and fulfilling dynamic.

Already making it an endearing tale is the background of friendship, of days spent in U-14 camps at Punjab, bunking together during the U-19 World Cup, fine-tuning their batting under the watchful eyes of Yuvraj Singh during the pandemic. Ina fiercely individualistic sport masquerading as a team game, this is the sort of mateship that can be the magic ingredient of success.