Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan become fifth most successful Test opening pair for India
Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were unvanquished by Bangladesh at the close of play on Day 1 in the ongoing Fatullah Test, scoring 239 runs in 56 overs before the rains came on – scaling several new records in the process.
Their unbeaten partnership of 239 has only been bettered by an Indian opening pair thrice in history – Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy’s 413 against New Zealand in 1956, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag’s 410 against Pakistan in 2006, and 289 by Dhawan and Vijay themselves against Australia in 2013.
239 is also the highest Indian partnership against Bangladesh.
Dhawan and Vijay became only the sixth opening pair in Indian Test cricket history to have completed 1,000 runs, overtaking Wasim Jaffer-Virender Sehwag as the fifth most successful duo.
Dhawan notched up his only third Test century while Vijay completed his 11th half-century, and is well on his way to the sixth Test century of his career. Vijay was unbeaten on 89, while Dhawan played a more flamboyant knock of 150 not out.
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir formed the most successful pair in Indian cricket history. From 2004-2012, they added 4,412 runs in 87 innings with a highest of 233, averaging 52.52.
| Batsmen | Runs | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag | 4412 | 52.52 |
| Chetan Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar | 3010 | 53.75 |
| Anshuman Gaekwad and Sunil Gavaskar | 1722 | 35.87 |
| Kris Srikkanth and Sunil Gavaskar | 1469 | 43.2 |
| Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay | 1161 | 50.47 |
| Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag | 1031 | 36.82 |