The era of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

On Wednesday, India's opening partnership in ODIs will feature neither Rohit Sharma nor Shikhar Dhawan for just the ninth time in the past five years. In that period, India have played 111 games. Rohit and Dhawan have played together in 74, Rohit has opened in another 22 with other partners, and Dhawan has played seven without Rohit. It will feel slightly surreal to India fans when two debutants, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw, open the batting against New Zealand in the three-match ODI series, a testament to how consistent Rohit and Dhawan have been in recent times.