India has a history of producing world-class batters. So here, you can find some of the exciting partnerships list of highest opening record in Indian cricket history. Several eras and generations have witnessed many world-class Indian batters bat together in opening partnerships. A good opening partnership is the best foundation for any team in any game format. Partnerships are crucial in cricket as only when the two batsmen develop a partnership can they keep getting runs to increase the scores on the scoreboard. Opening partners must surpass various challenges to provide their team with a decent start.
List of highest opening record in Indian cricket history
Every team wants to open the innings with a massive total by the openers. Whenever a team scores big runs in the opening partnerships, it helps the upcoming batters achieve even more runs for their team. Let’s look at the test and ODI format list of the highest opening record in Indian cricket history.
Test match partnership records:
For India, the highest opening partnership runs in a career of test matches is 4412 runs made by Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag from 2004 to 2012. Totally 87 innings, both are opening partnerships for the Indian team at an average of 52.52, with 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries.
The next highest opening partnership by runs is 3010, made by CPS Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar from 1973 to 1981. Both are opening partnerships in 59 innings at an average of 53.75, with ten centuries and ten half-centuries.
Below is the list of the top 5 highest opening records in Indian cricket history of test matches
S.NO. | Indian Batsmen Name (Opening Partners) | Year | Runs | Innings | Highest Partnership | Average | No. of 100’s | No. of 50’s |
1. | Gautam Gambhir & Virendra Sehwag | 2004-2012 | 4412 | 87 | 233 | 52.52 | 11 | 25 |
2. | CPS Chauhan & Sunil Gavaskar | 1973-1981 | 3010 | 59 | 213 | 53.75 | 10 | 10 |
3. | Shikhar Dhawan & M Vijay | 2013-2018 | 1748 | 41 | 289 | 43.7 | 3 | 6 |
4. | AD Gaekwad & Sunil Gavaskar | 1976-1985 | 1722 | 49 | 176 | 35.87 | 4 | 9 |
5. | Sunil Gavaskar & K Srikkanth | 1981-1987 | 1469 | 34 | 200 | 43.2 | 3 | 9 |
ODI match partnership records:
In limited-overs cricket, the openers have a dual responsibility to perform – maintaining a reasonable run rate and consolidating the innings at the start. On most occasions, it is assumed that if an opening pair builds a good partnership of plus 150 or 200 runs, then the team is expected to pose a massive total on the scoreboard.
Below is the list of the top 5 highest opening records in Indian cricket history of ODI matches
S.NO. | Indian Batsmen Name (Opening Partners) | Year | Runs | Innings | Highest Partnership | Average | No. of 100’s | No. of 50’s |
1. | Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly | 1996-2007 | 6609 | 136 | 258 | 49.32 | 21 | 23 |
2. | Rohit Sharma & Shikhar Dhawan | 2013-2022 | 4994 | 111 | 210 | 45.40 | 17 | 15 |
3. | Sachin Tendulkar & Virendra Sehwag | 2002-2012 | 3919 | 93 | 182 | 42.13 | 12 | 18 |
4. | Virendra Sehwag & Gautam Gambhir | 2003-2013 | 1870 | 38 | 201 | 50.54 | 5 | 7 |
5. | Sourav Ganguly & Virendra Sehwag | 2001-2007 | 1714 | 43 | 196 | 39.86 | 5 | 6 |
Opening partnership record in test cricket
Test cricket’s opening partnership record or highest first-wicket partnership is 415 runs between Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith (South Africa) against Bangladesh at Chattogram on Feb 29th-2008. In that match, South Africa built a big score of 583 runs for seven wickets in the first innings and won the game by an innings & 205 runs.
Below is the highest opening wicket partnership list in the test match.
S.NO. | Batsman Name | Team | Runs | Opponent Team | Venue | Match Date & Year |
1. | Neil McKenzie & Graeme Smith | South Africa | 415 | Bangladesh | Chattogram | 29-Feb-2008 |
2. | Vinoo Mankad & Pankaj Roy | India | 413 | New Zealand | Chennai | 06-Jan-1956 |
3. | Virendra Sehwag & Rahul Dravid | India | 410 | Pakistan | Lahore | 13-Jan-2006 |
4. | Glenn Turner & Terry Jarvis | New Zealand | 387 | West Indies | Georgetown | 06-April-1972 |
5. | Bill Lawry & Bob Simpson | Australia | 382 | West Indies | Bridgetown | 05-May-1965 |
Best opening partnership for Indian cricket
The Indian team has been blessed to have some of the best openers. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have formed India’s most stable opening pair since the end of the Sachin era in Indian cricket. It is the only pair that opened more than 100 innings other than the Sourav Ganguly – Sachin Tendulkar pair. Over the last decade, their pair has become an integral part of seeing team India. Let’s look at the top 5 best opening partnerships for Indian cricket from 1974 to the present day.
S.NO. | Indian Batsmen Name (Opening Partners) | Year | Runs | Innings | Average | No. of 100’s | No. of 50’s |
1. | Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly | 1996-2007 | 6609 | 136 | 49.32 | 21 | 23 |
2. | Sachin Tendulkar & Virendra Sehwag | 2002-2012 | 3919 | 93 | 42.13 | 12 | 18 |
3. | Rohit Sharma & Shikhar Dhawan | 2013-2022 | 4994 | 111 | 45.40 | 17 | 15 |
4. | Virendra Sehwag & Gautam Gambhir | 2003-2013 | 1870 | 38 | 50.54 | 5 | 7 |
5. | Ajay Jadeja & Sachin Tendulkar | 1994-1996 | 1315 | 22 | 59.77 | 5 | 7 |
Highest opening partnership record by Indian team
Below is the list of the top five highest opening partnership records by the Indian team in the limited-overs format of cricket.
S.NO. | Indian Batsmen Name (Opening Partners) | Partnership Runs | Opposition Team | Venue | Match Date & Year |
1. | Sachin Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid | 331 | New Zealand | Hyderabad | 08-Nov-1999 |
2. | Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid | 318 | Sri Lanka | Taunton | 26-May-1999 |
3. | M Azharuddin & Ajay Jadeja | 275 | Zimbabwe | Cuttack | 09-April-1998 |
4. | Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar | 258 | Kenya | Paarl | 24-Oct-2001 |
5. | Yuvraj Singh & MS Dhoni | 256 | England | Cuttack | 19-Jan-2017 |
Top 3 best opening players in India
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Virendra Sehwag
- Sourav Ganguly
At present, Rohit Sharma is the best opener in the world. He is a current skipper for limited-over cricket, and he is one of the greatest batsmen in history. So far, he has played 43 tests, 227 ODI’s, and 119 T20I matches and scored 3047 test runs, 9205 ODI runs, and 3197 T20I runs at an average of 48.0, 45.5 & 32.7, respectively.
In which year has India had the best opening partnership in test cricket?
In 1956, India had the best opening partnership in test cricket. On January 06th – 1956, the highest opening record in Indian cricket history was 413 partnership runs made by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand at Chennai. They are one of the oldest pairs in Indian cricket, and Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy scored 231 and 173 each in that test match. Even today, they hold the highest opening partnership by an Indian pair.
Conclusion:
We hope that the above article will help you find out the list of the highest opening record in Indian cricket history. And we also discussed the test and ODI match partnership record in the history of Indian cricket. The opening partnership record in test cricket, the best and highest opening partnership record by the Indian team, and the top 3 best opening players in the Indian team. Opening batters partnership plays an important role that provides strength to the rest of the batters, and several opening partnerships have helped India win matches that are cherished even today. So do look at the above article about the list of highest opening records in Indian cricket history.