India's five best openers till date

Australia v India: Carlton Mid ODI Tri Series - Game 2
Rohit Sharma is considered one of the top openers today

From Krishnamachari Srikkanath to Navjot Singh Sidhu and then Gautam Gambhir, India have, over the years, been blessed with some of the best and most explosive openers. They are but a part of a tradition which has seen the Indian team always take the field with the best and biggest names when it came to opening the innings.

Opening in Tests is quite different from doing it in ODIs and T20s, but India have always had specialists for each occasion, with some notable exceptions who have done well across all formats. The name of Shikhar Dhawan comes to mind.

Openers are of paramount importance in cricket as they not only give the team a solid start but also take the game quickly away from the opposition. It is thanks to some of these great openers that India have enjoyed immense success across all formats of the game.

Let us look at five of India's best openers across all formats of the game.

#5 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma started out as just another young, talented middle-order batsman. But he was not consistent enough and his career struggled to take off. It was then that the decision to promote him to the top of the order was made which proved to be a masterstroke.

Sharma partnered Dhawan at the top in the 2013 Champions Trophy in England where the pair was immensely successful. Rohit has not had to look back since, as he has enjoyed the responsibility at the top of the order, playing freely and scoring big runs for his team.

He registered his individual best of 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014, which is also the highest score in ODIs till date. That also gave him the rare distinction of being the only cricketer to score two ODI double hundreds, the first one coming against Australia in 2013.

Sharma has amassed 5435 ODI runs at an average of 42.46 with 11 centuries and 31 half-centuries till date. He is also a successful T20I opener having scored 1364 runs with 1 century and 11 half centuries.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

3rd Test - India v Australia: Day 4
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly

The stylish southpaw from Bengal was hugely successful at the top of the order in limited overs cricket until Virender Sehwag came along. His partnership with Tendulkar at the top of the order was a love story that Bollywood would have been proud of.

The duo scored 6609 runs together in 136 innings which included 21 century and 23 half-century partnerships, the best till date. They also have a partnership average of 49.32, the second-best for any pair with at least 2000 runs.

Ganguly had a hugely successful career as an opening batsman in ODIs and as a captain, having played his share of incredible innings for India at the top of the order. His 183 against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup is one such unforgettable knock.

Ganguly scored 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 with 22 hundreds and 72 half-centuries. Out of this, as an opener, he scored 5671 ODI runs including 10 centuries and 37 half centuries.

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#3 Virender Sehwag

India v South Africa: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup
Sehwag exploded on the scene and hit some memorable knocks

Often called the ‘next Tendulkar’ because of his aggressive batting style when he first emerged on the scene, Virender Sehwag gradually grew out of the maestro’s shadow to become a legend in his own right.

At his best, Sehwag was belligerent and unstoppable, finishing off opposition attacks with a smile on his lips. He scored 8273 ODI runs, with 15 centuries, at an average of 35.05 and strike-rate of 104.33. He was also the second batsman to score an ODI double hundred.

Not many however had predicted that he would be successful at the Test level. But he proved the naysayers wrong and changed the way Test cricket was played.

Sehwag challenged the norm that on fast, bouncy pitches, the openers in Test cricket should just survive and try to see off the new ball. The flamboyant right-hander played attacking knocks on such pitches, most famously in Australia, taking the shine off the ball and getting fast runs to provide his team with a clear advantage on the opening day.

His 195 against Australia in the MCG and his triple hundred against Pakistan at Multan are still remembered today.

He scored 8586 runs in Tests at an average of 49.34 and a strike-rate of 82.23. He was one of those rare Indian openers who was successful across all formats of the game.

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#2 Sachin Tendulkar

Australia v India - Tri-Series Game 7
Arguably the greatest of all time

When you think of the greatest ODI openers of all time, the name Sachin Tendulkar instantly springs to mind. Probably the greatest of all time, and a legend who changed Indian cricket forever, Tendulkar was the reason why many people fell in love with cricket in the first place.

His brilliant knock of 134 against Australia in Sharjah in 1998 and his 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup are two innings that stand out till date.

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He played for 24 years and broke almost all records by the time he retired. His ODI best of 200, which was also his inaugural double-hundred in limited overs cricket, came against South Africa in 2010.

He retired with 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 and 49 centuries in his kitty. He was truly special!

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#1 Sunil Gavaskar

1st Test Match - England v India : News Photo
The epitome of consistency

Facing up to the fiercest and fastest of the West Indies bowlers without a helmet was an achievement in itself and Gavaskar not only survived but thrived in such conditions.

Gavaskar was not a maverick with the bat, instead, he was the epitome of concentration and consistency. He held up one end, oblivious to what was happening around him, and unleashed his powerful array of strokes after settling at the crease. His patience was matched by his consistency as he scored centuries even against the most hostile bowling attacks.

A Test average of 65.45 against the West Indies in that era and an average of 70.20 away from home are astounding numbers that speak volumes of his prowess.

His overall Test average was 51.12 and he was also the first man to score 10,000 runs in Test match cricket.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram