Continuing the trend of being rescued from a precarious position, the Indian team somehow found two players who managed to drag them out of the deep hole. After having got out of jail in the first One Day International, the hosts were once again reeling at a dicey 25 for 3 and were staring down the barrel.
After the herculean efforts of Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav in Pune, two stalwarts in MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh put on a stunning show in Cuttack. The duo wound the clock back, as an ecstatic crowd lapped up the entire show.
During this effort, many records were smashed along the way, as both Yuvraj(150) and Dhoni (134) sent the England bowlers and fielders scurrying for cover.
Here in this list, we take a look at top 5 batting partnerships for India in the history of ODI cricket.
#5 Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni (256 vs England)
The Indian selectors made a bold call when they included Yuvraj Singh in the ODI squad and there were plenty of debates around this particular inclusion. However, the southpaw came back with a lot of purpose and slammed a sparkling century and bailed out from a tricky situation. He was given superb assistance by MS Dhoni and the sight of them smashing the bowlers to all parts of the ground evoked several fond memories for an Indian fan.
Yuvraj notched up his highest ODI score when he was dismissed for 150, and Dhoni scored a sparkling 134.
Their partnership was worth 256, which is the fifth-highest partnership for India in limited-overs format for any wicket.
#4 Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly ( 258 vs Kenya)
India came back roaring against Kenya and two of their best opening batsmen combined to script an amazing display of brilliant batsmanship.
On a flat surface in Paarl, the Indian openers leathered the hapless Kenya bowlers to all parts of the ground. Both Sachin and Ganguly brought out their best and it was in many ways a vehement reply to the Kenyan team, which handed India an embarrassing loss in their previous encounter.
Ganguly ended with 111, and Sachin scored 146 in 132 runs.
India went on to win the match by a convincing margin of 186 runs.
#3 M Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja ( 275* vs Zimbabwe)
India were languishing at 26 for 3 when Azharuddin and Jadeja combined to put on a rescue mission. In searing Cuttack heat, both Jadeja and Azharuddin smashed Zimbabwe to all parts of the ground and offered no window of hope for the visitors.
Azharuddin's eventual 153 not out took 150 balls and included 17 fours and a maximum. Jadeja gave him great support and scored 116.
In reply, Zimbabwe made a great fist of things, but then frequent loss of wickets did not allow them to overhaul the target and eventually they fell short by 32 runs.
#2 Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid (318 vs Sri Lanka)
On a chilly morning during the 1999 World Cup, two young men in Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid smashed the Sri Lankan bowlers to all parts of Taunton.
Sourav Ganguly put on a sterling display as he plundered all bowlers enroute 183, which is also his highest score. He was given superb assistance from Rahul Dravid, who untill then was considered to be a misfit in ODIs. He took tht attack to the bowlers and took all the initiave early on.
They did not spare any bowlers, and even the great Muralitharan bore the brunt of the onslaught.
Sri Lanka’s chase never got going and they were bundled out for 216.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (331 vs New Zealand)
The Indian team were under pressure coming into the second match in Hyderabad, as they lost their first ODI in Rajkot. However, they put up a sensational show in Rajkot and were led by their captain, Sachin Tendulkar who was at his smashing best.
He was given superb assistance by Rahul Dravid and together the duo were astute in their strokes and placements. Sachin remained unbeaten on 186, and Dravid unleashed a number of flamboyant strokes to ammas 153.
New Zealand were broken down by the scoreboard pressure and their chase never took flight. They were dismissed for 202 in 33.1 overs.
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