IPL History: Top 5 famous Indian-foreigner unions

#2 Sachin Tendulkar-Sanath Jayasuriya

It was a bowlers' nightmare.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya are two batsmen who have opened the innings for the most number of times in ODI cricket. While Jayasuriya opened the innings 383 times for Sri Lanka, Tendulkar did the same 340 times for India. For around 18 years, both were the star performers for their respective nations, especially in the contests between both teams.

In 58 matches between India and Sri Lanka when these two opened the innings for their respective teams, Sachin scored eight centuries and 14 half-centuries, while Jayasuriya scored six centuries and 10 half-centuries.

The advent of the Indian Premier League presented the opportunity to watch these two rival openers opening the innings for the same team. Mumbai Indians bought Jayasuriya in $9.75 lakh during the auction, while Tendulkar was a part of the franchise as an icon player.

The two opened the innings 19 times for Mumbai Indians and added 713 runs at 37.52 with the highest partnership of 127 against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2009.