Top 5 Indian batting pairs in recent history

2. Rahul Dravid – Sachin Tendulkar

Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar

Among the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, the dynamic duo of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar needs no introduction. They came to the rescue of the Indian team in the most difficult of situations and steadied the ship time and again. The most successful partnership in Test cricket ever, they scored 6920 runs from 143 innings at a stupendous average of 50.51.

In ODI cricket too, they enjoyed a fair amount of success, with their second-wicket partnership of 331 runs (Sachin 186* and Dravid 153) against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999 being the highlight. Overall, across both Test and ODI cricket, they scored 11,037 runs from 241 innings at an average of 45.79.

1. Sourav Ganguly – Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar enjoyed a great partnership with Sourav Ganguly

While India have had many great partnerships in recent years, the top spot goes to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for redefining ODI cricket courtesy of their brilliance at the top of the order in the late 1990s. They put together 8227 runs from 176 innings at an average of 47.55 in ODI cricket overall, which is the most by any batting pair.

In that time, they also had 29 half-century and 26 century stands, establishing themselves as the pre-eminent opening pair of their generation in the process. In Tests, they put together 4173 runs from 71 innings at an average of 61.36, including 16 half-century partnerships and 12 century stands. Deservingly, then, they top this list as they have 12400 runs from 247 innings at an average of 50.20 across both Test and ODI cricket.