‘We understand each other so much’: Rohit Sharma opens up about special bond with Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Photo by BCCI) NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma’s brilliant century in the third ODI against England at Lord’s ended in defeat, but the Indian opener took time out after the match to talk about his special partnership with Virat Kohli. Rohit’s 138 off 110 balls kept India in the hunt for England’s 387/3, but the visitors ended up losing by 27 runs to lose the series 2-1.During the innings, Rohit and Kohli again put together an important partnership. The two have now combined to score over 8,000 runs in ODIs and registered their 21st century stand, the second highest by any pair in ODI history behind Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly’s 26. The Lord’s ODI also marked another milestone as Rohit and Kohli became the first Indian pair to play 400 international matches together.In a video shared by BCCI, Rohit said their long journey together helped build a special understanding in the middle.“We’ve played together our whole career. So, you know, it’s been nice to have him in the middle. We’ve had a lot of partnerships. It’s always fun to bat together. We understand each other a lot. And yeah, it’s always nice in the middle to bounce ideas off, try what we can do. So there were a lot of conversations between us saying batting.”Rohit and Kohli already hold the record for most international matches played together by an Indian pair, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid’s 391 matches.Overall, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene lead the list with 550 matches, followed by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayawardene (426). Rohit and Kohli are now seventh on the all-time list with 400 appearances.Rohit said he always enjoys playing in England because of the challenge the conditions offer.“Yeah, look, I love playing in England. There’s no doubt about that. The atmosphere, the ground, the pitch. When you turn up here to play any format, it challenges you in different ways. And that’s what you want as a cricketer. You want to be challenged all the time. And yes, I’ve had my time in the middle. I’ve enjoyed it. But again, a bit disappointed, like I said.”The India opener admitted the team was disappointed after failing to complete the chase but stressed the importance of improving as a unit.“We couldn’t finish the game and get the result in our favor. But yeah, we have to move on from that and try how we can improve. And see what we can do better as a group. Not just individuals. It’s about the group. It takes a collective effort from the group. And that’s what I think the team should focus on,” he said.