"He told me that he just couldn’t do it" - When Rohit Sharma described a teammate as 'very annoying'

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are among India's most famous opening pairs in ODI cricket history. They joined forces during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England, which the Men in Blue won. Subsequently, the duo formed a great alliance and won several games for India in one-day international cricket.

Rohit and Dhawan have a lot of mutual admiration for each other and have openly complimented each other many times. The two are also okay with pulling each other's leg and taking some fun digs at one another. In an Instagram Live session with David Warner in May 2020, the Hitman opened up on the annoying side of his long-time batting partner. He commented:

“Shikhar never likes to play the first ball. I remember we opened together against South Africa in the Champions Trophy and I asked him if he could face the first ball, considering I was just playing my second match as opener. He told me that this was his first tour and that he just couldn’t do it. I faced Morne Morkel first up and I literally couldn’t see the ball for the first three balls."

"Sometimes, he is very annoying also. I tell him the plan that we need to execute against a bowler and then suddenly after five seconds, he will ask me what I said," the right-handed batter recalled.

Rohit, however, praised Dhawan and credited the southpaw for his success as an opener. The Mumbai batter elaborated:

“I love batting with him because he takes on the new ball and that allows me to take time to settle myself. It makes my job easier when batting, although he is a little irritating."

Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in August 2024. The left-hander represented India in 269 matches across the three formats, scoring 10,867 runs at an average of 39.66, with 24 hundreds and 55 fifties.

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Rohit-Dhawan are 4th on the list of batters with the most runs as an opening pair in ODIs

Rohit-Dhawan features at No. 4 on the list of batting pairs with the most runs while opening the innings in ODIs. The duo opened together for the Men in Blue in 115 innings in ODIs and totaled 5,148 runs at an average of 45.55, with 18 hundred partnerships and 15 half-century stands. Their best alliance of 210 came against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai.

Both the opening batters hammered hundreds in the game as India won the contest by nine wickets, chasing 238. Dhawan was run out for 114 off 100 balls, while Rohit was unbeaten on 111 off 119 deliveries.