Cricket has evolved to a great extent and the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one great example. Each year ten teams play against each other for two months to win one trophy. […]
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Jan 6, 2024 2:51 pm
Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli (Source – Twitter)
Cricket has evolved to a great extent and the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one great example. Each year ten teams play against each other for two months to win one trophy. The craze of IPL has reached levels and all the IPL teams give their best to win the trophy. IPL matches involve a lot of planning, plotting, and strategic moves. Teams with the best batting and bowling lineup fail to win, while an unbalanced team wins the trophy. When we talk about IPL, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have the highest number of trophies (5) followed by Kolkata Knight Riders with two trophies.
Teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, and Punjab Kings are yet to win an IPL trophy. Even though they are strong contenders, they fail to perform in crucial matches. The tournament is built in such a way that it requires a balanced team, in terms of batting, bowling and fielding, to win the trophy. However, sometimes batting outshines all the other departments. The opening batters especially have a huge role to play in T20 matches. Thus, this article talks about the best IPL-opening partnerships of all time.
Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa
Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa (Source – Twitter)
Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa were the best opening pair for KKR to date. They were the reasons behind KKR’s 2014 win. This opening pair has scored more than 1500 runs at an average of 50. They are the two players KKR fans miss the most during the IPL season.
Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay
Michael Hussey and Murli Vijay (Source – Twitter)
CSK and openers go hand in hand. Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay changed their batting approach after coming to CSK. The pair have scored more than 1200 runs at an average of 40. They had played some aggressive innings which they aren’t known of. In the 2011 IPL Finals, both of them made a partnership of 159 runs which helped CSK defeat RCB.
Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle
Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle (Source – Twitter)
Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle are the two greatest batters of all time. Together they have scored more than 2500 runs in IPL. Even though Kohli is a number 3 batter, he managed to open along with Gayle due to RCB’s lack of opening strength. Both of them have destroyed the careers of some good bowlers before a few years.
David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan
David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan (Source – Twitter)
Sunrisers Hyderabad had two dangerous batters as their opening pair for a long time. Although both of them play for different teams now, together they scored more than two hundred runs for SRH as an opening pair. Thanks to them, SRH won their one and only IPL trophy in 2016.
Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis
Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson (Source – Twitter)
Chennai Super Kings are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the IPL. Moreover, they have been really lucky to have some great openers in the team from the start of the tournament. Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis were one such pair who have helped CSK win a lot of crucial matches. Back in 2018, Faf helped CSK win the qualifiers while Watson played a brilliant innings in the Finals.
