4 great batting pairs in ODI cricket history

ODI cricket has witnessed some great batting pairs over the years who have thoroughly entertained their fans over a long period of time, not just by scoring tons of runs, but by scoring them with a lot of authority and class. While most of the famous batting pairs have been left-right combinations as the bowlers always found it difficult to adjust their lines to them, there have been a few pairs who have not had left-right combination, but they still managed to trouble the bowlers time and again whenever they were together at the crease. Here are the 4 greatest pairs in ODI cricket history.

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#1 Sachin Tendulkar - Sourav Ganguly

Tendulkar-Ganguly

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly batted together for the first time in 1992. Tendulkar was already an established member of the Indian ODI side back then, while Ganguly was a newcomer. Ganguly couldn’t cement his place in the Indian squad in his first season and was dropped from the squad for a few years before he was eventually recalled in 1996-97 and he got the opportunity to open with Tendulkar.

Tendulkar and Ganguly started opening for India on 23rd January, 1997 and although there were occasions in between where their opening partners were changed and one of them had to move down the order, they opened the batting together for majority of the next 10 years.

Also see - India West Indies head to head

The duo batted together in a total of 176 innings scoring 8227 runs at an average of 47.55. They had 26 century and 29 half-century partnerships between them. The highest partnership that Tendulkar and Ganguly ever had was a 258-run stand against Kenya in 2001. It’s still the highest partnership by an Indian opening pair in ODIs. Tendulkar and Ganguly are the most successful batting pair of India in ODIs till date in terms of the total runs scored.

#2 Rohit Sharma - Virat Kohli

Sharma-Kohli

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli average more as a batting pair than Tendulkar and Ganguly. In 79 innings that they have batted together, Rohit and Kohli have scored 4741 runs at an average of 64.06 with 17 century partnerships.

The Sharma-Kohli duo started flourishing when the former started opening the batting in 2013. It’s from there that they had the opportunity to bat together more frequently as Kohli was an established no. 3 batsman for India already. The highest partnership between them has been of 246 runs that they stitched together in Guwahati last year when they were up against a visiting West Indies side. They made a mockery of the 323-run chase as both of them smashed hundreds in the game. Kohli and Sharma are at No.1 and No.2 in the ICC rankings respectively at the moment. There are hardly any batsman around the world who are as consistently effective in 50-over cricket as these two.

#3 Kumar Sangakkara - Mahela Jayawardene

Sangakkara-Jayawardene

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were a little different from the other batting pairs. Their batting was not a lot about aerial shots, it was more about piercing the ball through the gaps. Even when they tried to hit a six occasionally, it was hardly a cross-batted shot. It was mostly the extension of the conventional shots.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene were a batting pair which would take the game away from the opposition without the opposition even realising it because they never hammered their way away. They played silky cricket and still impacted the game significantly. The duo scored 5992 runs in 151 innings that they batted together averaging 41.61. They had 15 century partnerships between them.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene are not active as players anymore as they bid adieu to international white-ball cricket in 2015. While, Sangakkara is into television commentary these days, Jayawardene is a coach and is currently in charge of the IPL champions Mumbai Indians.

#4 Adam Gilchrist - Matthew Hayden

Gilchrist-Hayden

Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden are probably the most authoritative batting pair to have ever played ODI cricket. They might have been slightly down the list as compared to the other pairs in terms of runs, but the kind of shots that they played and the tempo that they maintained while they were together at the crease, it was a nightmare for the bowlers to deal with them.

Gilchrist and Hayden had 16 century partnerships between them while opening the batting for Australia, the most important of which was their partnership in the World Cup 2003 final against India where they put on a 105-run partnership to lay an ideal platform for Ricky Ponting and the other middle order batsmen who blasted India to all corners of the park after that. Gilchrist and Hayden, who batted together for a period of only 8 years, scored 5409 runs in 117 innings at an average of 47.44.