On the occasion of Friendship Day, Indian veteran Shikhar Dhawan opened up on bonding with his batting partner Rohit Sharma and named a song that the ‘Hitman’ liked to sing while they batted together. Though the International Day of Friendship is observed on July 30 worldwide, India observes Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August every year. Speaking to Star Sports, Dhawan said about Rohit, “I have opened with him for 8-10 years, so I have a strong bond with him. He is a gem of a person. Usse bada achha lagta tha jab mai ek gaana gaata tha pitch pe (he used to like it a lot whenever I sang one particular song), ‘putt jattan de bulaonde bakre’. So he would look at me and then sing the same song. It is one moment that repeated often. He remembered a couple of lines from the song, which he used to sing and then laugh.”

Shikhar and Rohit are one of the most successful opening pairs in the history of modern-day cricket. The partnership at the top developed during the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 when Rohit was promoted from middle-order to the opening slot along with Shikhar, who was just trying to solidify his spot in the team back then.

From 2011-2022 in 173 innings, they both scored 6,984 runs together at an average of 40.84, with 22 century partnerships and 22 half-century partnerships. Their best partnership was of 210 runs. They together starred in some of India’s most memorable wins of 2010s, mainly in the white-ball cricket, including the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 triumph.

While Shikhar last played an international match for India in December 2022 against Bangladesh, Rohit recently led India to a memorable ICC T20 World Cup win against South Africa in the finals in June and is currently leading the ODI side in preparations for ICC Champions Trophy during the ongoing tour against Sri Lanka.

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