Top 3 highest partnerships between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in ODIs

The pair of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as arguably the best ODI opening pair in the history of ODIs for Indian cricket. At their prime, the duo was the best opening pair of its time. In the late 1990s, the two batters were at their peak and won a lot of matches for the team. As an opening pair, the duo provided great starts for the team. While Sachin Tendulkar was a butcher from one end, Ganguly acted as a surgeon from the other end. The left-right combination worked well for Team India for a lot of years. Here are the Top 3 highest partnerships between the duo for India in ODIs –

#1 258 against Kenya in Paarl 2001

It was the nineth match of Standard Bank Triangular Tournament between India and Kenya. India won the toss and elected to bat first. On a good wicket, Tendulkar and Ganguly had a great partnership between them. The duo faced 244 deliveries and scored 258 runs for the opening wicket. The flashy opener Sachin scored a brisk 146(132) and gave the much-required time for his partner. The Southpaw and the captain, Ganguly, scored 111(124) and anchored the innings. It’s the highest partnership between the two in ODIs.

#2 252 against Sri Lanka in Colombo (RPS) 1998

It was the final of the Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy between India and Sri Lanka. Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and opted to bat first. The Indian opening pair was good yet again. The duo scored 252 runs for the opening wicket in 44 overs. While Sachin scored 128(131) and took the attack on the Lankan bowlers, Ganguly took his time and scored 109(136). India eventually won the match by just 6 runs. Tendulkar was awarded the player of the match for his good performance.

#3 244 against Namibia in Pietermaritzburg 2003

It was the World Cup game between India and Namibia in 2003. Namibia won the toss and opted to bowl first. The bowling side dismissed Virender Sehwag and had the upper hand. That’s when Ganguly joined Sachin and steadied the ship. The duo had one of the best partnerships and helped India to get past 300. While Tendulkar scored a mammoth 152(151), Ganguly scored 112(119) with some gigantic sixes. The duo scored 244 runs in 243 deliveries in the partnership and helped win the game against Namibia.