Sourav Ganguly’s incredible journey: From being a 'controversial' selection to BCCI President

Start of a glorious partnership

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were one of the most feared batting duos of their generation.

Ganguly opened for the first time in ODIs during the Titan Cup at Jaipur on October 23, 1996. This was the beginning of his fruitful partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. In that match, the duo added 126 runs, with Tendulkar making 64 and Ganguly contributing 54.

Although India went on to lose the match by 27 runs, it set the tone for things to come as Ganguly and Tendulkar went on to dominate one-day cricket for the better part of the next decade.

Ganguly and Tendulkar remain the most prolific one-day opening partnership in world cricket. They opened together in 136 innings, and amassed 6609 runs at an average of 49.32, with 21 hundreds and 23 fifties between the two and a highest partnership of 258.

The left hand-right hand combination, when in form, gave bowlers around the world a harried time. The success of the Tendulkar-Ganguly combination can be gauged from the fact that no other opening ODI pair in history has scored 6000 runs.