In ODIs, India’s “Big Three” remain Sharma, Dhawan and Kohli

Virat Kohli teaming up to open with Rohit Sharma in the last T20I may have given fans a rush of excitement but Kohli is most likely to switch back to his preferred No 3 spot with Shikhar Dhawan returning to open with Sharma in the ODI series against England starting Tuesday.

Specialist opener Shubman Gill, who made his debut in the last ODI, is also in the squad. But when it comes to ODI cricket, India’s “big three”—Sharma, Dhawan and Kohli, batting at 1,2,3 have stood the test of time and have numbers to back them.

Dhawan’s T20 stocks may be on the decline but he remains a superbly consistent ODI run getter (5808 runs, Avg 45.02) at the top. The Sharma-Dhawan combine (4802 runs, Avg 45.3) compares favourably with the all-time great opening partnerships in ODI cricket. Only the Sourav Ganguly-Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes combines have scored more runs.

"Shikhar and Rohit will definitely start,” Kohli said at the presser preceding the ODI series against England. “When it comes to ODI cricket, I don’t think there are any issues or doubts over them opening together. They have been amazing for us in the past few years. We will start with that. "

While Sharma (9115 runs, Avg 49.27) is an ODI legend, that the 35-year-old Dhawan still has it can be gauged looking at CricViz’s Batting Impact index (player impact in comparison to an average opener) for Indian openers in the last three years. As per their algorithm, Dhawan’ Batting Impact is + 4.0 (Avg 49) compared to KL Rahul’s + 0.2 (Avg 45.38), making Dhawan the better performer of the two. Sharma’s returns are outstanding at +8.4. Kohli, India’s one-down, owns this position with 9924 runs at an average of 62.81.

While both Sharma and Kohli turned on the heat in the last T20I (60 runs in the first 6), they don’t always make a dashing start, which reduces their T20 impact scores. But both are up there with the very best in 50-overs cricket. That can be understood by taking a glance at how they build their ODI innings. Sharma shows utter disregard to the usual thinking that promotes taking advantage of field restrictions in the opening powerplay. He score 4.25 runs per over on an average in his first 29 balls and 5.35 rpo in the next 30 ball. The longer he stays the more he accelerates. When he faces 120-149 balls in an innings, his run rate goes up to 10.47; between 150-179 balls, it touches an astronomical 17.36. For a batsman who has 29 hundreds, eight scores over 150 and three double tons, his start steady/finish explosive approach to run scoring is completely justified.

A lot of Kohli’s finishing genius is also built around his near perfect ODI game plan. His innings building is identical to Sharma’s, and again for someone who has scored 60 fifties and 43 hundreds, he does not need to be a out-an-out sprinter in ODI cricket.

The last time Sharma-Dhawan-Kohli failed collectively in a big match was in the 2017 Champions trophy final. After which, the top order caved in during the 2019 World Cup semi-final (KL Rahul opened instead of Dhawan). While India’s recent ODI exploits have been marred by these two major batting failures, between the Champions trophy and the World Cup (2017-19), India has enjoyed a 75 percent win record. After the World Cup and till date (2019-21) that record has come down to 62 percent. Whatever the highs and lows, the sublime showing of the top order has remained a constant.

Sharma averages 65.77 (57 matches) in 2017-19, and 57.12 after that (2019-21) in 9 more matches. All throughout, his strike rate stays around 95. The Indian captain averaged an astonishing 77.92 in this 2017-19 phase (52 matches), and his average has remained an impressive 58 (15 matches) after that. All that at a strike rate close to 100.

Dhawan’s average throughout the last four-year spell (2017-21) is around 45, although a slight dip in strike rate from 99.46 to 92.13 is something he may want to keep an eye on, particularly with the bench now brimming with opening options. KL Rahul has been batting in the middle order but would want to move his way back to opening. With Gill in the mix and both Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal knocking on the doors with big domestic runs, India has an enviable bench in this department.