Champions Trophy 2017: Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma, then & now

Once Sachin Tendulkar (March 2012) and Virender Sehwag (January 2013) left the international scene one after another, the immediate question was who will replace this ultra successful Indian opening pair in limited-overs cricket.

It wasn't an easy answer to come up with as there weren't really good openers in domestic cricket who were impressive back then.

The urgency to find a pair reached its peak with the ICC Champions Trophy coming up in England in 2013.

Shikhar Dhawan made all the right noises on his Test debut, scoring an attacking 187 against Australia in March 2013 followed by a successful Indian Premier League (IPL) season to strengthen his case for an ODI spot.
Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, was always seen as a special talent in the middle-order who needed more time to flourish.

The Champions Trophy was the perfect platform to unite the two characters, and who better than the then India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to do it.

The move clicked from the first game itself against South Africa in Cardiff, where the duo stitched together a 127-run for the opening wicket. Sharma hit a classy 65 and Dhawan went on to score his maiden ODI century on his return limited-overs cricket after two years. The two laid a perfect foundation for India to make a huge score and beat their opponents by 26 runs.

There was no stopping the pair from there on. The duo had notched up two hundred-plus stands and as many half-century partnerships in the tournament, with Dhawan amassing 363 runs in five games with two centuries.

Since the Champions Trophy, the two have had eight century-plus partnerships and as many 50-plus stands, making them a perfect replacement to the retired greats.

While Sharma has been consistent in the One-Day format, there have been times when Dhawan's form and consistency has been questioned by his critics.

That was the reason why the southpaw was dropped from the Test side after the first Test against New Zealand in Kolkata last year. Sharma, meanwhile, injured his thigh in ODIs against the Kiwis.

With the Test star and in-form KL Rahul missing out on the Champions Trophy due to shoulder injury, life has come full circle for the two openers once again.

Both of them will need to prove themselves again, with Dhawan coming back into the ODI team after bring dropped and Sharma returning from an injury that kept him out of cricket for five months before the IPL. Sharma will also need to adjust at the top of the order quickly, for he was pushed down in the middle-order by Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Dhawan (479) and Sharma (333) had a more-than-decent IPL season, but whether they can take that confidence into the Champions Trophy will be something to watch out for.

With India's big opening game against Pakistan a week away, the two warm-up games that begin with New Zealand at The Oval on Sunday provides the ideal chance for the duo to find their rhythm again.

Playing today

India vs New Zealand (warm-up)
Live on Star Sports 1, 2 & 3: 3pm

479

No. of runs Shikhar Dhawan scored in IPL-10

333

No. of runs Rohit Sharma scored in IPL-10

DID YOU KNOW?

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan notched up two hundred-plus stands and as many half-century partnerships in the 2013 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy