8 partnerships Indian cricket fans can never forget

Sourav Ganguly – Rahul Dravid, World Cup 1999

Things were not going well for India in the 1999 World Cup. Sachin had returned to India because of his father’s sudden demise, India had lost to Zimbabwe. The encounter against Sri Lanka was a must win for India and also Sri Lanka.

In the match, India opened with Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly. Vaas played his trick and Ramesh was out of the field even before he could settle. Out came Rahul Dravid and joined Sourav Ganguly.

It was Rahul Dravid who started attacking the Sri-Lankan bowlers. He started playing his shots and hitting boundaries. In no time, he got to a score of 38 runs in just 25 deliveries. He managed to score his century at a run-a-ball. Ganguly crossed the three-digit mark on the 119th ball. The two managed to construct a huge partnership of 318 runs.

The partnership was the first 300-run partnership in ODI cricket. it was not just the highest partnership at that time, it was a partnership that showed the world that Indian batsmen had the ability to play long innings on foreign soil as well.

Ganguly went on to score 183 runs in 158 balls, the then second highest score in World Cup history. Because of this partnership, India managed a massive total of 373 for the loss of two wickets. It remained the highest score for India in World Cup until they scored 413 runs in 2007 against Bermuda.

India managed to win the match by a huge margin of 157 runs.