"The Ultimate Jatt" - Rohit Sharma posts a message on Shikhar Dhawan's retirement
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has congratulated fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan on a stellar cricket career. Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday, August 24.
Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have partnered each other at the top of the order for more than eight years. The duo started opening for Team India in the first game against South Africa at the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. They went on to be the first-choice opening pair for both ODIs and T20Is.
Over the years, the pair have shared many great opening stands, most notably, adding 210 runs in Team India's Super 4 clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the 2018 Asia Cup.
Rohit took to his official X account (formerly Twitter) and shared a post with the following caption:
"From sharing rooms to sharing lifetime memories on the field. You always made my job easier from the other end. THE ULTIMATE JATT. @SDhawan25"
You can see the post below:
Rohit Sharma last opened the innings alongside Dhawan in the first ODI against Bangladesh on December 4, 2022. The 37-year-old most recently hung up his boots in the shortest format of the game after winning the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He continues to lead Team India in Tests and ODIs.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been a prolific opening pair for Team India since 2013
The pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order was the norm for Team India, which won many multinational tournaments when they walked out to bat for the Men In Blue.
The pair scored an aggregate of 5148 partnership runs, which is the fourth-highest among all opening pairs behind Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly, Matthew Hayden-Adam Gilchrist and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes. Together, they have been a part of Team India in successful campaigns of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2016 and 2018 Asia Cup.
Dhawan walks off with 10,867 runs to his name after representing India in 269 matches across formats. As for Rohit Sharma, the Team India skipper will be seen in action in the first Test against Bangladesh, starting from September 19 at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.