8 partnerships Indian cricket fans can never forget

Cricket has always been a game of partnerships. The best recipe for success in the game is for the key players of the team to stick in the middle and play for a long time. Over the years, Indian cricket has seen some great partnerships. Some of these have been so significant that they shaped the Indian cricket for years to come. More than that, there have been some that meant a great deal for the fans and the cricketing world as a whole and not just because of the number of runs that they involved, but also because of the time they came at and the role that they played in Indian cricket.

Here are 5 partnerships that Indian cricket fans can never forget:

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Yuvraj Singh – Mohammad Kaif, 2002

If you watched the 2002 Natwest Trophy final between India and England, then there is no way you have forgotten the 121-run partnership between Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. 90 percent of the television and radio sets were switched off in the country, and the rest 10% went down with the wicket of Sachin. Everybody thought that India had lost the match and considered these two young guns incapable of turning the game around.

But some of the Indian fans kept watching the game with the hope of seeing a miracle on their television sets. Along with these fans, these two players refused to admit defeat. It was a test of faith for the fans and Yuvi and Kaif did not disappoint them.

This partnership was not just about the runs it involved. This partnership gave birth to the competitive team India that we see today winning overseas regularly. It was not just a partnership being built, it was a memory being built to be cherished by the entire cricketing fraternity and the Indian fans forever.

In that match, the Indian fans saw two young players refusing to admit defeat even after the entire world thought that they had been defeated. This partnership showed the world that the Indian cricket was in great hands for the years to come.

Sachin Tendulkar – Rahul Dravid, 1999

A world record that went on to stay unbeaten for almost 16 years, and more than that, a memory that is still fresh in the minds and hearts of the Indian fans. In November 1999 when New Zealand came to India, political tensions were high due to the Kargil war and there was nothing better Indian cricket could have given to the country.

In the second ODI, Ganguly was run out for just 4 runs. Then came in Rahul Dravid and joined Sachin in the middle. The two batsmen played the New Zealand bowlers with unbelievable ease. For the next 277 balls, the New Zealand bowlers just kept looking for wickets and all that they got was disappointment.

The two batsmen smashed the bowlers all around the park. Sachin Tendulkar ended up scoring an unbeaten 186, and Dravid ended up with a staggering 153. Both these scores remained the highest individual scores of these two players for a very long time. In fact, the 153 remained Dravid’s highest score forever.

Sachin was in such a form that he scored 27 runs in the 49th over. Because of these two giant scores, India was able to achieve a mammoth total of 376 runs, which remained the highest score of the team for a very long time. The duo ended with a staggering 331-run partnership which remained the biggest partnership in ODIs for any wicket for almost 16 years.

VVS Laxman-Rahul Dravid, 2001

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The second Test of India-Australia series in 2001 is arguably the most significant match in the history of Indian Cricket. The mammoth partnership of 376 runs between Laxman and Dravid was the main reason for the historic win that the Indians recorded at the time.

India was struggling at a score of 232/4 when Laxman and Rahul came together in the middle. The crowd hadn’t known that they were in to see history being scripted at Eden Gardens.

Laxman was promoted to no. 3 in the second innings and he went on to play his epic innings of 281 runs. This was the highest individual score by an Indian at that time. Rahul Dravid, on the other end, scored a staggering 180 and both of these players constructed a partnership of 376 runs.

Because of this partnership, Indians did not lose a single wicket on Day 4 and eventually won the match and created history.

Sourav Ganguly – Rahul Dravid, World Cup 1999

Things were not going well for India in the 1999 World Cup. Sachin had returned to India because of his father’s sudden demise, India had lost to Zimbabwe. The encounter against Sri Lanka was a must win for India and also Sri Lanka.

In the match, India opened with Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly. Vaas played his trick and Ramesh was out of the field even before he could settle. Out came Rahul Dravid and joined Sourav Ganguly.

It was Rahul Dravid who started attacking the Sri-Lankan bowlers. He started playing his shots and hitting boundaries. In no time, he got to a score of 38 runs in just 25 deliveries. He managed to score his century at a run-a-ball. Ganguly crossed the three-digit mark on the 119th ball. The two managed to construct a huge partnership of 318 runs.

The partnership was the first 300-run partnership in ODI cricket. it was not just the highest partnership at that time, it was a partnership that showed the world that Indian batsmen had the ability to play long innings on foreign soil as well.

Ganguly went on to score 183 runs in 158 balls, the then second highest score in World Cup history. Because of this partnership, India managed a massive total of 373 for the loss of two wickets. It remained the highest score for India in World Cup until they scored 413 runs in 2007 against Bermuda.

India managed to win the match by a huge margin of 157 runs.

Virender Sehwag – Rahul Dravid

On January 16, 2006, Sehwag and Dravid went on to construct one of the best most significant partnerships in Indian Cricket. The two players went on to almost breaking the world record for the biggest opening partnership. In fact, the manner in which the partnership ended is one of the reasons that it is still alive in the memories of the cricket fans.

Sehwag is known for not caring about the situation and just hit the ball around like he always does. The duo was just three runs away from the world record of opening partnership when Sehwag went for his famous upper-cut and got out caught.

But this is not all that makes this partnership memorable. Sehwag was at his brutal best and Dravid was the normal elegant and wristy player that he always was. Sehwag went on to score the second fastest double century in the history of test cricket.

In fact, he got to the double hundred by playing the same shot that he played while getting out. Dravid and Sehwag made the Pakistani bowlers almost beg for a wicket. It was as if the two batsmen were having fun with them.

The way that these two players played to reach the mammoth total that they did made sure that this partnership became a memory for every Indian fan.

Sachin Tendulkar - Mohammad Azharuddin, 1997 (Cape Town)

In the first Test match against South Africa in 1997, India was backed into a corner. The South African team had a lethal attack that consisted of the likes of Allan Donald, Brian McMillan, Paul Adams and Shaun Pollock. It was a fiery pitch and the Protean fast bowlers had crippled India to a score of 58/5.

India were 471 runs behind the Africa total of 529 in the first innings. Once again, India was looking at an embarrassing defeat and also at a follow-on on a foreign soil. But Sachin and Azhar had different plans.

The two constructed a partnership of 222 runs. Both players went on to score centuries. Sachin scored 169 and Azhar scored 115. The partnership is one of the best in Indian cricket’s history because it was an example of the Indians putting up a fight in foreign conditions. Although the team eventually lost the match, the players could at least hold their heads high because of these innings.

Even against such a lethal bowling attack, the two players played their shots. Sachin hit 26 boundaries in his innings. It means 104 runs came in boundaries, which shows how well he played that day. Azhar also went on to hit 19 boundaries in his innings.

Yuvraj Singh – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 2017

In January 2017, the Indian fans relived some of the best memories of the past decade as the iconic pair of Yuvi and Mahi turned the clock back. In the second ODI at Cuttack, they thrashed the English bowlers all around. The team was struggling miserably at a score of 25 for just three wickets. And then came the former captain and joined Yuvraj Singh who was making a comeback into the National side.

The iconic duo went on to construct a partnership of 256 runs for the fourth wicket. Yuvraj Singh scored his highest score of 150 runs. He was in the best form of his career thus far, and went on to hit 21 fours and three sixes.

Again, this partnership was not just about the runs that it involved. It was about the time that it came at and the pair involved. The Indian fans were already nostalgic with their captain stepping down from captaincy. Yuvraj Singh’s comeback increased the nostalgia even more. With all this happening, there was nothing more the Indian fans could have asked for.

Every six that Yuvraj Singh hit revived hundreds of memories and every run that Dhoni scored pleased everyone. In fact, many celebrities took to Twitter at the time to express the joy that they felt on seeing this pair playing together again.

Gautam Gambhir – Virat Kohli - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, World Cup 2011 final

Despite the low amount of runs that this partnership included, it would not be wrong to call this the most significant partnership in the history of Indian cricket. India was struggling and in fact failing at a score of 31 for two.

The entire country had its heart in the mouth when Sehwag got out without the country scoring even a single run. Moreover, out of the nine previous World Cup finals, only two times had the team batting second won the world cup. When Sachin Tendulkar was caught behind, Wankhede was as quiet as a ghost town.

That was when Gambhir and Kohli stepped up to the job. They formed a useful partnership that turned the World Cup final in India's favour. For the Indian fans, every single run that was scored by Kohli and Gambhir was a huge relief.

The entire country was watching the game with fingers crossed as these two players constructed an 83-run partnership in just 93 deliveries.

When Kohli got out, the team was at 114 for three wickets and then came out the captain and constructed the most significant partnership of the match and possibly Indian cricket. The two batsmen soaked up the entire pressure and still managed to score the runs at an amazing rate. The two ended up scoring 109 runs in 19.4 overs.

We all remember the World Cup-winning moment but these two partnerships were key behind that success.