In a crucial encounter, Ishan Kishan, who opened against New Zealand and is known for his aggressive stroke-making, was benched following the return of Suryakumar Yadav to the side. It meant that Rohit, a player with a strike rate of 126.28 in the T20 World Cup, was back at the top — a move that did not inspire much confidence considering his recent scoring rate against spin. With KL Rahul having a T20I high score of 18 in 2021 before the game, the opening pair had a question mark hovering over them.

Rohit’s strike rate in the recent IPL – 127.42 – indicated that he was generally fulfilling the role of the team anchor, a job that India desperately needed him to shed against Afghanistan.

They managed to do just that during their stand of 140 in 14.4 overs, in what was the highest partnership by an Indian pair in a T20 World Cup across all editions of the tournament.

Overall, the duo strike at 9.38 runs an over together, which is second only to Martin Guptill and Colin Munro’s run-rate of 9.66 (among all openers who have batted in at least 15 T20Is). Rahul and Rohit have combined to score 727 runs together while opening, which gives them an average of 48.46, the third-best among all opening pairs with at least 700 runs together. Despite those recent struggles, those are extremely good numbers.

The most important aspect for a batter remains the ability to make the most of a start, which is something that both Rahul and Rohit have mastered individually. While the former has 15 50-plus knocks in T20I cricket, of which six are 70-plus scores, Rohit has 27 scores of more than 50, a tally that includes 12 70-plus knocks. This also includes a combined six hundreds together in the format, with Rohit scoring four T20I tons. This aspect has crept in when they are batting together as well. While batting together they have gone on to make 135-plus stands three times. No other pair for any other wicket has a stand of 135-plus runs more than three times in T20Is. When they do get going together, they are almost unstoppable.

Their impact has been seen the most in the side’s results, with India winning 10 of the 15 games in which Rahul and Rohit have opened together. The duo have scored 592 runs in victories and average 59.22 in nine innings. Only Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have scored more runs and average more than the India pair.

Overall, the two have formed a successful T20I pairing, scoring 1,212 runs in just 23 innings at an average of 55.09. Their average is the best among all Indian pairs across wickets with a minimum of 600 runs scored together. With four century stands as well — equal with the four Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit have — to go with five fifties, the duo have managed to form a successful bond, which has proven fruitful for India over the years.

The temptation to have Kishan open the batting, especially after Virat Kohli stated that the keeper was selected as an opener in the squad, might be a persuasive one, but in pressure situations, like on Wednesday, Rahul and Rohit showed that they can be counted upon to ditch their IPL default orthodox modes and kick on from their good starts. Individually, their approach can lead to frustration but on days when they get going together, they can be really, really good.