Stats: Most successful batting partnerships for India in ODIs
A successful innings is a result of one or many big partnerships. India have the good fortune of posting both the two 300+ partnerships in ODI history. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid made 331 against New Zealand in 1999 followed by Dravid combining with Sourav Ganguly the same year for a record-breaking 318-run stand in the World Cup against Sri Lanka.
Over the stretch of time, the batting order has maintained its supremacy in the format with them establishing themselves as ‘greats’ for the country. The reputed Indian opening pair of Sachin and Sourav amassed a huge 8227 runs, including 26 century stands and 29 50+ innings overall. The pair thus has not only scored the most runs in ODIs for India but also is at the top of the tree across the world.
The legendary career of Sachin Tendulkar means he makes it to the top 10 list of Indian partners with four different teammates. The second place goes to the attacking opening pair of Sachin and Virender Sehwag with 4387 runs. ‘The wall’ Rahul Dravid takes the next two places with Ganguly and Tendulkar. Current Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finds his name two times in the list – with Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.
The left-right combination of Raina and Dhoni scores at the best average of 60.07 in 63 innings for their 3244 runs and are the only active pair. Their contribution is further magnified by the fact that both bat lower down the order and yet form one of the more successful partnerships for India in the limited overs format.
| # | Partners | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest | 100-run stands | 50-run stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar – Sourav Ganguly | 176 | 8227 | 47.55 | 258 | 26 | 29 |
| 2 | Virender Sehwag – Sachin Tendulkar | 114 | 4387 | 39.16 | 182 | 13 | 18 |
| 3 | Rahul Dravid – Sourav Ganguly | 87 | 4332 | 50.37 | 318 | 11 | 18 |
| 4 | Rahul Dravid – Sachin Tendulkar | 98 | 4117 | 44.26 | 331 | 11 | 14 |
| 5 | Mohd. Azharuddin – Sachin Tendulkar | 78 | 3514 | 48.80 | 175 | 8 | 19 |
| 6 | MS Dhoni – Suresh Raina | 63 | 3244 | 60.07 | 169 | 8 | 17 |
| 7 | MS Dhoni – Yuvraj Singh | 67 | 2795 | 49.91 | 158 | 9 | 13 |
| 8 | Rahul Dravid – Yuvraj Singh | 67 | 2663 | 41.60 | 133 | 5 | 17 |
| 9 | Sourav Ganguly – Virender Sehwag | 62 | 2481 | 42.05 | 202 | 7 | 10 |
| 10 | Mohd. Azharuddin – Ajay Jadeja | 60 | 2270 | 42.03 | 275* | 3 | 11 |
*Stats updated on 28 August, 2014