India has a rich history of batsmen who have played Test cricket over the years and the quality of batsmen has improved over the years and having such great Test batsmen has resulted in some of the best partnerships in the history of Test cricket. Happened and some of them have been career-changing for some of the players.
Out of the countless great partnerships in Indian Test cricket history, making it to the top 10 is no easy task as it takes some effort and even a great partnership to enter this illustrious list of great batsmen. Let’s take a look at 10 of India’s best partnerships in Test cricket.
Pankaj Roy & Vinoo Mankad (413 runs)
One of the earliest great chapters in the history of Indian batting came in the year 1956 when Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad shared a magnificent 413-run partnership against New Zealand at Madras (now Chennai). This is a record for an opening partnership which stood for 52 years before being broken in 2008 by Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie of South Africa.
The Indians won the toss and elected to bat first, giving Roy and Mankad plenty of chances to create history. The duo did not disappoint and continued to inflict misery on the hapless Kiwis till Pankaj Roy was eventually dismissed for 173 after adding 413 runs for the first wicket.
Virender Sehwag & Rahul Dravid (410 runs)
Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid decimated Pakistan’s formidable bowling attack when they stitched together a stupendous opening partnership, with Sehwag finishing the innings with an impressive 254 at a strike rate of over 100. The stars became stars and Rahul Dravid also scored a brilliant century.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid (376 runs)
Perhaps the greatest Test match ever involving India, witnessed one of the finest partnerships in the history of world cricket. An epic partnership between two legendary Indian batsmen, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman thwarted the mighty Aussies to bring victory to their country for years to come.
The writing was on the wall for the Indians after they were bowled out for 171 in their first innings in reply to Australia’s 445. They looked much better in their second innings, however, when captain Sourav Ganguly was dismissed for 48 and India were bowled out. For 232.4, there was a lot to worry about.
Murali Vijay & Cheteshwar Pujara (370 runs)
This partnership was crucial to the careers of both Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara as they played the innings of their lives together and a formidable attack against Australia is something special. Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant double century and Murali Vijay scored a brilliant 167.
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (365 Runs)
During the ongoing Test against New Zealand in Indore, the best partnership has been seen between two Indian batsmen. The current Indian Test line-up, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put on a 365-run partnership for the fourth wicket to put the hosts in complete control in the third and final Test of the series.
At 100 for 3 in 36 overs, the Indians were certainly not in a comfortable position after winning the toss and batting first. It is at this time that Rahane joined his skipper, who was batting on 16, with Cheteshwar Pujara falling for 41.
VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar (353 Runs)
This was the Sachin Tendulkar match as he was determined not to play the cover drive and he persevered to play his best test innings scoring 241* and VVS Laxman ably supported him with a magnificent 176 runs and these two had one of the most legendary partnerships.
Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar (344* Runs)
It was the third Innings of this match and the Indian team needed a big score and both these great batters stepped up against the great West Indies bowling attack and both of them made 182* and 157* respectively.
Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar (336 Runs)
It was Virender Sehwag’s Test match as he created history for Indian cricket like never before and had the right partner in Sachin Tendulkar to do so. Virender Sehwag scored a career-defining triple century and Sachin Tendulkar scored a valuable 194 runs for India.
Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma (317 Runs)
Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma made a beautiful partnership in this match against South Africa and both of them hit 12 sixes together and Mayank scored a brilliant double century and Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 176 runs. It was a career defining innings for Mayank Agarwal.
Gundappa Vishwanath and Yashpal Sharma (316 Runs)
It was a thrill for all the cricket lovers in India as the two legendary batsmen showed what great batting is all about. Gundappa Vishwanath scored a double century in this match and Yashpal Sharma scored a brilliant 140 runs.
