Rohit-Gill: The Hitman-Iceman combo gives India edge over opponents

Dubai: Rohit Sharma exposed all his stumps and biffed New Zealand pacer Nathan Smith over the cow corner for a 92 meter six in the sixth over of the Champions Trophy final here.

Eight overs later, Gill broke the shackles, launching Rachin Ravindra over long-on for a six through a little shimmy and an effortless swing of the bat.

Both shots fetched maximum results. But Rohit's shot exemplified his desire to dominate the bowlers regardless of the situation or the merit of the ball, while Gill’s was a reflection of his willingness to wait for his chances.

This is how they operate. The Rohit-Gill opening partnership is a convergence of contrasts like all the great pairs of the past.

Roll the years back and you will have West Indies' Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, India's Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly or Australia's Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, they make each other greater by feeding on their partner's strength.

Here, Rohit’s aggression is Gill’s feeding point. The Punjab man knows that he does not need to take any undue risks because an intrinsically aggressive batter is on the other side.

He can take his time to settle down before switching to an upper gear.

India’s first match in the ICC showpiece against Bangladesh will give a clearer picture. The Indian openers made 69 in 9.5 overs, and 41 of those came off Rohit’s bat.

Gill was on 23-ball 26 at this stage, but soon settled down and eventually got a hundred in the team’s six-wicket win.

In the final against Kiwis too, Rohit did the early running and he was batting on a 63-ball 69 when Gill got out for a 50-ball 31.

Actually, the smooth-sailing alliance could have blossomed further had it not been for Glenn Phillips’ flying catch to dismiss Gill.

The roles have been well-defined between these two, and it reflects in their record so far as well. From 32 matches, Rohit and Gill have made 2124 runs together at an average of 68.51 with seven hundred partnerships and 12 fifty-plus stands.

Rohit explained how he operates with Gill.

"He's got so much class about his batting. And then it's, for both of us, just about having that constant communication of how to take the game forward and building that partnership. When we are batting together, obviously, both of us like to play shots.

"He likes to pierce the field. I like to go aerial. So, it actually works both ways and works well, which is why there's been a lot of consistency in our partnership. And Gill, to be honest, understands this game really well," said Rohit.

These different methods to find boundaries, in fact, can confuse the bowlers as they need to regularly alter their line and length, and eventually they can lose the radar.

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner acknowledged it.

"His (Rohit's) approach puts fear in bowlers. He is kind of aggressive in nature. I think him and Shubman dovetail well. Shubman will wait for a bad ball, but Rohit is pretty happy to hit bowlers off their lengths.

"I guess the way he goes about it, you might fail a few times, but, like he (Rohit) did today, if you can really get your team off to a flyer, especially on a slow wicket, you put yourself kind of ahead of the game," said Santner.

Their partnership of 105 while chasing a tricky 252 was vital as it nearly whittled down the target by half.

However, the success of Rohit-Gill combine was essential for India because Shikhar Dhawan was eased out in 2022 after walking out to start their team’s innings for almost nine years.

The Rohit-Dhawan, which also gave India the right-left option at the pole position, combine had amassed 5148 runs from 115 matches at an average of 45 with 18 stands in excess of 100.

India did try to pair KL Rahul with Rohit and it produced results too, 992 runs in 11 matches at a mind-boggling average of 90.18 with five century partnerships.

However, the team combination demands mandated the demotion of Rahul to middle-order and India required another batter to give company to Rohit for a longer duration.

Gill fitted that bill perfectly. His predecessor Dhawan explained it.

"He’s got a tremendous game sense. His consistency and skill level is top notch. He knows when to hold back and when to unleash. At such a young age, to have the art of scoring centuries is great," he said.

With Indian skipper in no mood to retire anytime soon from ODIs, we might just see a few more duets of destruction.