5 greatest Indian openers of all-time in ODIs

The openers are definitely the most important players for a batting team. They can set the platform for the rest of the players and their heroics at the top of the order can help the team post huge totals, which makes the job of the bowlers easier.

India has been fortunate to have had some of the greatest batsmen of all-time play at the opening slot. With their talent and mindset, they changed the outcome of the game at will and led the team to famous victories. In this article, we take a look at five of the best Indian openers of all-time in one-day cricket.

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#5 Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag is one of the most explosive batsmen of all-time. With his terrific hand-eye coordination, he demolished even the best of the bowlers for runs all around the park. He went tongs and hammers on the bowlers, night in and night out.

However, Sehwag started his career as a middle-order batsman in ODIs. It was Ganguly who promoted him to the opening slot and the rest is history. Sehwag has been one of the most reliable batsmen for India and won a lot of matches single-handedly for India.

His exploits at the top helped players that followed in the batting unit and India posted mammoth totals on a regular basis. Sehwag featured in 251 matches and scored 8273 runs at an average of 35.06. This includes 38 fifties and 15 hundreds. He is also one of the three Indian batsmen to score a double-century in ODIs.

#4 Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan is in rich vein of form in the ODI format

Albeit the opener has been struggling off late in red-ball cricket, Shikhar Dhawan is in a rich vein of form when it comes to ODI format. He is scoring heftily for India in every tournament in the shorter format and is causing a lot of trouble for the opposition bowlers.

Dhawan did not have the kind of start he would have wanted to his ODI career as he got dismissed for a duck in his debut game. However, he scored heavily in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and was even awarded the Man of the Series. He then cemented his spot as an opener in the team and has played some very valuable knocks with Rohit Sharma.

He is currently the fastest Indian to reach 1000, 2000 and 3000 ODI runs. Dhawan has played in 110 matches so far and has scored 4823 runs at a very good average of 46.83.

#3 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is churning out runs for fun

Rohit Sharma's story is similar to that of Sehwag's as he too started his career as a middle-order batsman but did not enjoy much success. However, his career changed forever after he was promoted to the opening slot.

Rohit has been sensational whilst batting at the top and has been churning out runs for fun. He has smashed three double-centuries in ODIs and is known for his ability to tear apart even the world's best bowling attacks.

He led the team successfully to the title in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2018 and was the second leading run-scorer for India in the tournament. This includes a brilliant century Pakistan in the Super Four.

He is already one of the best openers to have ever played for India and is on course to breaking a lot of opening records.

#2 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly changed Indian cricket forever with his captaincy skills

Sourav Ganguly carried the team's opening responsibilities on his shoulders for a large part of his career and demolished the bowlers with his aggressive approach. He took the attack to the bowlers in the first 10 overs and made use of the field restrictions well.

The southpaw was a wonderful player on the off-side and took the aerial route without any fear of getting caught. His powerful sixes will forever be cherished by the Indian cricket fans. Ganguly is also one of the most respected captains in the history of cricket.

Under his captaincy, India always played fearless cricket, with a never-ending hunger for victory. He is currently second on the list of most runs scored by Indian batsmen in one-day internationals.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest Indian batsman of all-time

Sachin Tendulkar is widely acclaimed as the greatest Indian batsman of all-time. In a career spanning over 24 years, Sachin played innumerable match-winning knocks and won the games for his side single-handedly.

He is the leading run-scorer in Test and one-day cricket and has almost all the batting records to his name. The little master played the majority of his career as an opener and provided solid starts for the Indian team, with he opposition bowlers left looking clueless on ways to get him out on most occasions.

Sachin and Sehwag carried the team to the World Cup title in 2011 with some wonderful partnerships. The Indian team took a major hit following his retirement and one thing is for sure, the stalwart will never be replaced.