The combination of most of the famous batting pairs in One Day International (ODI) cricket so far has been right-handed and left-handed, which makes it difficult for bowlers to adjust their bowling line.
However, there are cases where there are some opening duo are either both left-handed or both right-handed. But, in today’s article, we take a look at 4 best opening duos in the history of ODI cricket. We have have only considered some of the best from the 2000s to the present only.
Opening batters play an important role for their respective team. It is the opening combination that decides the pace of the inning.
Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden
The Australian pair of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden is one of the most dangerous pairs in the cricket world. Even though they are slightly lower on the list in terms of runs as compared to other pairs, the kind of aggressive shots they used to play together at the crease was a nightmare for the bowlers to deal with.
Gilchrist and Hayden opened the batting for Australia and have 16 hundred runs partnerships. The most important of these partnerships is of 105 runs, which the pair made against India in the final of the 2003 World Cup. Gilchrist and Hayden, who batted together for a span of only 8 years, added 5409 runs in 117 innings at an average of 47.44.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene
The Sri Lankan opening pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were slightly different from other batting pairs. Their batting relied more on technique than aerial shots.
The pair mostly believed in traditional shots and impressed the cricket lovers with their traditional game. Both have added 5992 runs in 151 innings at an average of 41.61, which includes 15 hundred plus runs partnerships.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan
The current Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan formed a great opening pair for Team India for the last 8 to 9 years. Their opening partnership have been quite so successful for Team India.
Both the players have together open the inning for Team India in 111 inning and both have added 4994 runs with an average of 45.40.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly batted together for the first time in the year 1992. The pair added 8227 runs in 176 innings at an average of 47.55. There were 26 century and 29 half-century partnerships between them.
Tendulkar and Ganguly shared a record partnership of 258 runs against Kenya in 2001. It still holds the record for the highest run partnership by an Indian opening pair in ODI cricket.
