Top 5 highest opening partnerships in Tests for India on Australian soil ft. KL Rahul & Yashasvi Jaiswal
Team India's Test tours to Australia can be seen as a tale of two parts - pre-2000s and the turn of the 21st century. While India enjoyed its odd moments with the back-to-back drawn series Down Under in 1980/81 and 1985/86, the disappointments outweighed the successes.
However, post-2000, India's fortunes have turned with a drawn series in 2003/04 and consecutive wins in 2018/19 and 2020/21. Given the challenges of batting against the new ball in Australian conditions, massive opening partnerships have been few and far between for India in Tests Down Under.
Even their successes since 2000 have relied largely on their No.3 batters' consistency and the middle-order's domination.
That said, India has enjoyed a few long opening partnerships in Tests in Australia, and we look at the top five highest ones in the long history between the two sides.
#5 Vinoo Mankad & Chandu Sarwate - 124, Melbourne, 1948
The fifth-highest opening partnership for India in Tests in Australia takes us back to their first-ever tour Down Under in 1947/48.
The hosts won the series opener in Brisbane before the drawn outing in the second Test in Sydney. The two teams headed to Melbourne for the third Test with the series hanging in the balance at 1-0 to the home team.
Australia scored a formidable 394 in their first innings at Melbourne before the Indian openers Vinoo Mankad and Chandu Sarwate fought back. The duo added 124 for the opening wicket with Mankad doing most of the damage, finishing on 116 from 187 deliveries.
The pair's 124-run opening partnership helped India reach 291/9 declared in their first innings. However, the Aussies dominated the game the rest of the way and won by 233 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead that soon turned into a 4-0 series win.
#4 Virender Sehwag & Aakash Chopra - 141, Melbourne, 2003
The 2003/04 tour of Australia was possibly India's best tour Down Under since the two teams started battling each other in the late 1940s. Facing arguably the most dominant side in cricket history, India stunned the hosts in the first two Tests of the four-match series, drawing the opener and winning the second Test in Adelaide.
Yet, the Asian side was not done as they opened the third Test in Melbourne in stunning fashion with their opening pair making merry. The contrasting duo of Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra added 141 for the first wicket after India won the toss and elected to bat first.
Along the expected lines, Sehwag was the dominant partner, finishing with a breathtaking 195 off 233 deliveries. Chopra played his role of second fiddle to perfection with 48 off 138 balls.
Despite the 141-run opening stand, India collapsed the rest of the way to finish their first innings on 366. It led to an Aussie resurgence for the remainder of the Test match as they completed a nine-wicket win to level the series.
#3 Sunil Gavaskar & Chetan Chauhan - 165, Melbourne, 1981
![Gavaskar helped India draw back-to-back series in Australia in the 1980s [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/11/ca1d1-17324231125196-1920.jpg?w=500)
It is nearly impossible for any Indian opening record in Tests to not have the legendary Sunil Gavaskar in it. With India trailing 0-1 in the best-of-three series Down Under, Gavaskar and his opening partner Chetan Chauhan produced one of the greatest rearguard actions in Indian cricket history.
Trailing by 182 runs after the first innings, Gavaskar and Chauhan added an incredible 165 for the first wicket to ignite hopes of a famous win. While the duo each missed out on their respective centuries with final scores of 70 and 85, India took inspiration from the opening stand to post 324 in their second innings.
Chasing 143 for a series win, the Aussie batters folded for a mere 83 as India pulled off a historic win to walk away with a 1-1 drawn series.
#2 Sunil Gavaskar & Kris Srikkanth - 191, Sydney, 1986
Drawing inspiration from the 1980/81 tour down under where they avoided a series defeat in Australia for the first time, India dominated in their next tour in 1985/86.
The visitors held the upper hand in the first two Tests that ultimately ended in draws, setting up a series decider in Sydney. Batting first, the Indian opening pair of Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth smashed 191 for the first wicket to set up their massive first innings total of 600/4 declared.
The duo reached their respective centuries with Srikkanth finishing on 116 and Gavaskar on 172.
However, the flat Sydney wicket eventually won out despite India's best efforts to pull off a first-ever series win. Following on after their 396 in the first innings, Australia was struggling on 119/6 when time ran out and the series ended with three drawn outings.
#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal & KL Rahul - 201, Perth, 2024
Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul became the first-ever Indian opening pair to put on a double-century stand in Australia during the ongoing first Test of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
After a low-scoring first innings saw both teams combine for 254 runs with the loss of 20 wickets, India took a slender lead of 46 to the second innings. However, Jaiswal and Rahul produced some of the best batting seen on Australian soil to keep the world-class Aussie bowlers at bay.
With the partnership reaching 201, Rahul was finally dismissed for 77 off 176, while Jaiswal is still going strong on 141* off 264.
India lead by a massive 321 runs at Lunch on Day 3 with the writing seemingly on the wall for the home side.