Arguably two of the finest batsmen of the modern era, there’s no denying to the cricketing legacy of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. Sharing as many as 53-centuries among themselves, at an average close to 55; it’s not hard to understand why the duo occupy the top two spots of the worldwide test rankings.
Openers David Warner and Rohit Sharma recently addressed the hype surrounding the aforementioned batting-duo. Over on a recent live session on Instagram; Warner and Rohit joked about the importance of their performances on Virat and Smith’s success.
“People say Kohli and Smith are the best in the world. But we make Smith and Kohli because we take the shine off the ball,” Warner good-humoredly explained. “We have got an important job as openers,” he opined.
An interesting aspect that connects Rohit and Warner is their opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan, who represented the Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2013-2018; had quite a reputation for his top-order rapport with Warner. Aptly named ‘David Dhawan’ after the renowned Bollywood director, the duo. Rohit, meanwhile, has smashed many international records alongside Dhawan while opening for the Indian limited-overs’ teams.
“Dhawan is restless to get a quick run”- Rohit and Warner
Rohit even joked about Dhawan’s ‘restlessness’ for completing runs; calling the latter an ‘idiot’ for his tendency to move outside the crease just after dabbing the ball. Warner concurred with Rohit on this one, calling out Shikhar’s commitment for scoring quick runs.
At one point, Warner described his ‘bizarre journey’- referring to his transition from a middle-order batsman to becoming an opener. He further offered anecdotes about his batting days with the New South Wales Blues to emphasize the change.
“It was bizarre. I was in the middle-order, sort of coming in at the back end of the innings. In 2009, Dominic Thornely was captain of New South Wales and Philip Hughes was opening when I was suddenly told that I am opening,”, he revealed.