In order for a team to get big scores on the board in a Test match, the opening partnership goes a long way. Spanning from the duo of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag to the one between Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie, opening partnerships have been a vital cog in shaping up the fortune of the game emphatically.
As the second Test match of the series continue with England putting India to bat, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have played a crucial opening partnership so far with Sharma doing most of the talking.
In a rain-soaked afternoon, India stands stationed at 46 for no loss with Sharma batting on 35 while Rahul playing a role of an anchor with 10 runs in his kitty.
In the fifteenth over, Sharma whacked Sam Curran for four boundaries in an over that left the English bowler reeling in agony.
The first one came with a subtle glance through the cover-point area that was followed by a fortunate escape as the next ball flew past the slip cordon.
The third boundary was whacked through the covers with a perfect middling of the ball and what followed suit was an impeccable glance down the leg with a nimble use of the wrists resulting in the fourth boundary of the over.
This over underlined how comfortable Rohit Sharma has been against the mighty English despite glacial playing conditions.
A fan very rightly pointed it out how Sharma has developed India’s Test batting by being a concrete pillar at the start and ever since his evolution as an opener, India has improved their opening overs with the bat.
Wow Rohit Sharma may not have many big test scores of late but he has been very very important #ENGvsIND #INDvENG #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/HpivqlyQx6
— Mehran मेहरान (@mehranzaidi) August 12, 2021
As the tweet shows that how after the introduction of Sharma to the Indian side, the average duration that the opening partnership has lasted has increased to almost 20 overs which is a great feat considering the continuos shuffle at the other end.
Sharma was India’s leading run-scorer in the opening edition of the World Test Championship and has been one of India’s reckoning forces in the longest format of the game.
