Opening salvo: Rohit and Gill showing how it's done

Rohit Sharma's belligerent approach at the top is complemented by the tempered style of his opening partner Shubman Gill.

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DUBAI: Just as new ball bowlers hunt in pairs, the chemistry between opening batters is as crucial. As former India opener Shikhar Dhawan said: "Aankho aanko main baat ho jaati thi (We didn't need words to send a message across)."

The Dhawan-Rohit partnership scored 5148 runs together, the second most by an Indian ODI opening pair after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who totalled 6609. Between Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the latter would whistle away, while Tendulkar made all tactical plays; together they plundered runs.

While batting together, Shikhar Dhawan not only did the mid-pitch singing of Punjabi numbers, but he would also up the ante in the Powerplay. Rohit Sharma would bide his time and set the innings up for many a monstrous total. Dhawan was Rohit's opening partner in two of his three ODI double tons.