Five reasons Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will form a deadly opening partnership

2. Technical superiority

Dhawan and Sharma have made a promising start in the Champions Trophy in the difficult conditions of England. A look at the results so far in the competition indicate that teams have been involved in low-scoring games and it is not as easy as the Indian batsmen make it look. A solid foundation is the secret to a big score; and in order to lay that foundation, the openers need to have a batting technique that can counter swing, bounce and pace. Sharma’s poise and grace comes from his ability to play the ball extremely late negating the factors of swing. He has the tendency to fish for the ball outside the off stump, but with his ability against the short ball he is a good bet overseas. Dhawan, on the other hand, has an optimum amount of footwork and depends on the ball coming onto the bat, but can use force as well. His ability against spin means that he can capitalize on a good start.’