Most prolific batting pairs for Australia across all three formats

#1 Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting

Between 2001 and 2009, the Australian top order terrorised bowlers all over the world and that too in all the three formats of the game. Much of that was down to opening batsman Matthew Hayden and number 3 Ricky Ponting.

While Hayden is definitely one of the greatest opening batsmen to have ever played for Australia, Ponting is perhaps their best batsman since Sir Donald Bradman and hence it was not a surprise that they went on to create one of the greatest batting partnerships in the country's history.

The fact that one of them opened and the other batted at three, across the three formats was also a reason why they were involved in as many as 152 partnerships. However, their batting abilities, technical excellence and the constant penchant of attacking the opposition bowling attack made them a frightening prospect.

They formed the basis of the batting of one of the greatest teams in cricket history and won everything in sight during that period. Well, except a T20 World Cup. They averaged a monumental 59.92 and racked up as many as 26 century-plus partnerships, in addition to 37 fifty-plus partnerships.