India has had a history of producing world-class batsmen. There have been several eras and generations which have witnessed several world-class Indian batters bat together. Thus, this has led to several iconic and memorable partnerships. Partnerships are crucial in cricket as only when the two batsmen develop a partnership can they keep the scoreboard moving and get the runs. Here, you can find some of the exciting partnership records in cricket.
There have been several games changing partnerships in the history of Indian cricket. Many of these partnerships have helped India win matches that are cherished even today.
Today, we shall be taking a look at the top 5 highest partnerships for India in Test cricket.
Highest Partnerships for India in Test Cricket
| Partners | Partnership | For Wicket | Against | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pankaj Roy & Vinoo Mankad | 413 | 1st | New Zealand | Chennai | 1956 |
| Virender Sehwag & Rahul Dravid | 410 | 1st | Pakistan | Lahore | 2006 |
| VVS Laxman & Rahul Dravid | 376 | 5th | Australia | Eden Gardens | 2001 |
| Murali Vijay & Cheteshwar Pujara | 370 | 2nd | Australia | Hyderabad | 2013 |
| Virat Kohli & Ajinkya Rahane | 365 | 4th | New Zealand | Indore | 2016 |
| VVS Laxman & Sachin Tendulkar | 353 | 4th | Australia | Sydney | 2004 |
| Sunil Gavaskar & Dilip Vengsarkar | 344* | 2nd | West Indies | Eden Gardens | 1978 |
| Virender Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar | 336 | 3rd | Pakistan | Multan | 2004 |
| Mayank Agarwal & Rohit Sharma | 317 | 1st | South Africa | Visakhapatnam | 2019 |
| Gundappa Viswanath & Yashpal Sharma | 316 | 3rd | England | Chennai | 1982 |
Key Stats
Rahul Dravid has made himself part of two of the top three greatest partnerships for India in Tests. VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar managed to place their names twice in the list above.
It is safe to call this partnership between Laxman and Dravid one of the greatest comebacks of all time. When was the last time you saw a team winning after being asked to follow on? The home team was dismissed for 171 in their 1st innings while responding to Australia’s 445. They were looking much better in their 2nd innings, but when skipper Sourav Ganguly fell for 48 with India on 232 for 4, there was a lot to worry about. It was then when Dravid joined hands with the very, very special Laxman to bring up a record 376 runs for the 5th wicket. The partnership turned out to be the platform for an unbelievable 171-run victory for India in the Test and tilted the momentum of the series in India’s favour.
The 410- run stand between Dravid and Sehwag came after the hosts Pakistan scored a whopping 679 for 7 in their 1st innings thanks to centuries from Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal. It was then when Viru joined forces with the wall. At the same time, Sehwag scored 254 off just 247 balls as well. Another important point to be noted is the fact that this was an opening partnership.
One of the oldest pairs in Indian cricket, Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy, holds the record for the highest partnership by an Indian pair even today. This chapter of Indian cricket took place way back in 1956. The two of them put up a 413-run partnership against New Zealand at Madras (now Chennai). It is an opening partnership record that stayed for 52 years. It was only in the year 2008 when South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie broke it. India was batting first after winning the toss, and thus, India witnessed its greatest partnership ever as Mankad and Roy went on to score 231 and 173 each. India went on to win the match, bundling the Kiwis for 209 and 219 in their two innings, respectively.
