5 batting partnerships we would have loved to watch

Wally Hammond and Sir Don Bradman were individual rivals in a team sport

The beauty of the IPL is that we get to see batting pairs that we would have never been able to see if it wasn’t for this tournament. The best players from various countries amalgamate to give fans a more diverse version of the game.

Pairs like Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan-David Warner, and MS Dhoni-Brendon McCullum have captured the imagination of fans and we wonder what could have been if the IPL initiated with the formation of the game of cricket itself.

Many legendary players would have played together and here is an attempt at listing down five such pairs:

Sir Don Bradman - Wally Hammond

Just imagine, there is no limitations to that. Australia’s greatest and England’s finest and the greatest rivals of their time. Many claim that Wally Hammond would have been the greatest batsman of that era if it wasn’t for The Don – and that fact ate him up bit by bit.

Both these batsmen were known for their irresistible technique and longevity at the crease as well as timely aggression. Another thing that stood out was their ability to play on really sticky pitches where the ball took a million years to come off the pitch – that is why they were two of the best of their time.

And hence it would have been interesting to see how they would have fared when playing in the same team. One can only imagine the glorious amount of stroke-play that would have happened if these two were at the crease together.

Imran Khan - Sir Richard Hadlee

Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee were two of the greatest all-rounders of their era

Two of the greatest all-rounders to play the game. Imran Khan is arguably the best cricketer Pakistan have ever produced while Sir Richard Hadlee is definitely the greatest to hail from New Zealand. Having both in the same team is like having four players at the same time: 2 quality batsmen and 2 amazing bowlers.

While Imran Khan is the better batsman among the two, you can say it’s a very close contest between the two with the ball in hand. Wickets and/or runs would have been a guarantee had these two played in the same team.

Sir Vivian Richards - Greg Chappell

Vivian Richards and Greg Chappell dominated cricket in the 70s and 80s

Sir Vivian Richards was regarded as the greatest ODI batsmen in the history of the game before Sachin Tendulkar took that tag from him. He was the definition of ruthlessness – he shredded bowling attacks like wheat and showed no remorse while doing so – his strike of 90, which is unreal for the times he played in, is a testament to that.

Another synonym to ruthless is Greg Chappell – at least Sourav Ganguly would say so. The Australian isn’t liked by most folk in Indian cricket, but that doesn’t hide the fact that he was a stunning batsman and a great leader in his day – someone whose iron will was hard to bend, and that was visible during his time as the coach of India.

Pairing these two at the top and middle order would mean just one thing: stabilized destruction. Stability for the team they would have played in and destruction for the opposition.

Sachin Tendulkar - Brian Lara

Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara have remained friends off the field

Two modern greats. And two good friends. This pair is similar to the Bradman-Hammond one since if it wasn’t for Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara would have easily been the greatest batsman of his generation.

Tendulkar did have a respectable IPL career, winning the competition once. Brian Lara, though, couldn’t play in the IPL.

To say the least, it would have been epic to see them batting together as partners. One is the greatest right-handed batsman of this era and the other is the greatest left-handed batsman of the same period. The shots on display while these two would have been at the crease would be stuff from which dreams are made of.

A scintillating display of sheer class that wasn’t to be.

Sanath Jayasuriya - Virender Sehwag

Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag could have been a destructive opening paor

Once upon a time, opening batting was all about being cautious and playing out the initial overs without losing wickets so that the middle order batsmen could build on it and launch the innings to achieve a respectable total. But then things changed when Sanath Jayasuriya came into the scene.

No longer was opening about being cautious. Now, it was about smacking the ball over the fielders and exploiting the fielding restrictions. That went to another level when Virender Sehwag introduced himself to the world.

Since then, the target of openers has become to make as many runs as possible when the fielding restrictions are on. And we can thank these two men for that.

Had these two, at their peaks, played together and opened the innings of their team in the IPL, only God knows what would have happened. Perhaps the record for the highest runs in the 6-over powerplay would be under their name.