A test match is a different ball game altogether. Here the aim of opening batsmen is not just to accelerate the pace of the innings but to give a solid foundation to one’s team so as to pose a huge total on board. There is no fear of overs as test matches are played over 5 days with each day a 90-over play is mandatory. Here hitting shots is not that much necessary than to save one’s wicket. Hence, forging big partnership in this format is need of the hour.

Historically, only three times batting pairs have been able to score more than 400-run for the first wicket. It was the Indian batting pair of M Mankad and Pankaj Roy who stood rock solid forging a strong 413-run partnership for the first wicket against New Zealand in Chennai some six decades back. The record stood as it is for the next five decades until the Indian pair of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag tried to touch it in 2006 when they forged a huge 410 run partnership for the 1^st wicket against Pakistan. However they fell short of 3 run before giving a first breakthrough to Pakistan. A couple of years later, the South African opening pair of Neil Mckenzie and Graeme Smith finally broke the world record and created a new one on piling a mammoth 415-run stand for the 1^st wicket.

India, despite having some of the world’s best batsmen in its squad, has failed to put 300 or more runs in test matches for the first wicket. Though Indian pairs recorded two 400 plus partnership, but they couldn’t forge any triple century stand ever in the history for the maiden wicket. On the contrary, Bangladeshi pair of Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal has successfully forged 312-run stand for the first wicket against Pakistan in Khulna in 2015. This is a surprising fact in itself.

Top 10 First Wicket Partnerships in Test Matches