“It’s always a pleasure”: Virat Kohli once described why he loves batting with Rohit Sharma post double century partnership

In this world of social media, even a small misleading post can spread the fire. After the 2019 World Cup, a lot of news came out regarding the alleged rift between former India captain Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma. Both of them denied the same, and in 2021, Kohli himself had to clear the air.

Kohli has often called him an admirer of Sharma’s batting. During the 2012 Asia Cup, he exclaimed that he is a fan of Sharma. After the 2022 T20 World Cup, Sharma also backed Kohli by saying that the team never doubted his class. There have been a lot of other instances of the same.

Both Rohit and Kohli have shared some memorable partnerships between then. One of them came against West Indies in an ODI match in 2018. The match was being played in Guwahati, and West Indies posted a total of 322/8 in the first innings.

India lost the wicket of batter Shikhar Dhawan early, but then Kohli and Sharma made the bowlers pay. Both of them stitched a partnership of 246 runs for the second wicket to earn an easy win for the Indian team. Sharma scored 152* (117) and Kohli scored 140 (107).

Virat Kohli once described why he loves batting with Rohit Sharma

After the match, Kohli had said that the situation was always in control with Sharma at the other end. Kohli had insisted that generally, he likes to be the anchor with Sharma smashing from the other end. However, he asked Sharma to switch roles in this particular match.

Kohli had acknowledged that it’s fun batting with Sharma at the other end as he is one of the best in the business. This was the fifth double-century partnership between both of these batters in ODIs.

“It’s never too difficult when you have Rohit at the other end. Among the top three, I mostly take the anchor role because both Rohit and Shikhar are good stroke-makers. It was one of those days where I felt good and I told Rohit I will continue to bat this way positively and maybe you can play the anchor role,” Virat Kohli told reporters after the match.

“It’s our 5th or 6th double-century partnership, it’s always a pleasure to bat with him.”

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ODI partnership record

Kohli and Sharma have added 4998 runs together in ODIs at an average of 62.47 in 85 innings. They have stitched 18-century and 15 half-century partnerships so far. They are the eighth-best pair in the history of ODI cricket.

However, in terms of average, the pair of Sharma and Kohli is the best (minimum of 50 innings). Both of them are certainly two of the best batters in cricketing history.