5 Last Century Opening Partnerships outside Asia for India

#2 Jaffer-Karthik 147 v England, 2007

Karthik and Jaffer were at it again, this time in England

Rain and MS Dhoni helped India escape to a draw in the first Test at Lord's. By the time the second Test at Trentbridge came along, Dinesh Karthik, now in the team as a batsman, rather than MS Dhoni's injury replacement, had scored 365 runs in 6 outings as a Test opener with 3 Fifties and 1 Century. At Nottingham, after Zaheer had blown England away, he added 77 more to his tally.

The duo of Jaffer and Karthik erased close to three-fourths of England's first innings tally of 198 themselves as they put the attack, comprising of Anderson, Sidebottom, Tremlett, Collingwood, and Panesar, to the sword. The pair fell in quick succession, only for Tendulkar to pick up from where they left and take India to a famous Test win, that paved the way for a historic series win in England.

Dinesh Karthik scored a fluent 91 in the drawn third Test at the Oval, his highest as an opener. However, 39 runs and 4 innings in, the home series against Pakistan saw an end to his short but fruitful stint as an opener.