Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are one of the most successful opening pairs in ODI cricket history (Reuters Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Dhawan's injury means Rohit might have a new opening partner during India vs New Zealand
- Harbhajan Singh believes that Dhawan's absence could make Rohit feel more responsibility
- Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rohit and his new opening partner KL Rahul will enjoy batting with each other
A thumb injury to Shikhar Dhawan has thrown India's 2019 WC plans in jeopardy as the opener seems set to be benched for 2-3 weeks. In his absence, KL Rahul is expected to share the responsibility of opening the innings with Rohit Sharma while another player from the squad takes the No. 4 spot in the batting line-up. India's World Cup winning off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the change at the top of the order will put Rohit under more pressure going forward.
In an exclusive chat with India Today, Bhajji said that with his regular opening partner sidelined, Rohit will feel the added pressure to perform as he might feel a little bit more 'responsibility' to carry the team's batting on his shoulders.
"Well I don't know if Rohit will be too worried but I think Shikhar's absence will just add a little more responsibility on his shoulders to do even better. We will have to wait and watch how well he gels with Rahul. But Shikhar not being there will definitely end up putting more responsibility and pressure on Rohit's shoulders to do better," said Harbhajan.
Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar too felt that the understanding that Rohit and Shikhar have between them, especially regarding the running between the wickets, takes a long time to develop and thus as a batsman one always prefers to open with your regular partner.
"When it comes to starting the innings, I think you do prefer somebody with whom you have opened before. In Rohit-Shikhar case there is never any hesitation in running between the wickets. They also know how to take the load off each other's shoulders. That kind of understanding takes a long time to build. But I think Rohit will enjoy batting with KL and Rahul will learn a lot from Rohit who has already scored 23 ODI hundreds on how to pace the innings. In my opinion, they might be a bit tentative at the start but once they are through the initial period, they should be fine," concluded Gavaskar.
India are scheduled to clash against New Zealand on June 13 at Trent Bridge.
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