ODI World Cup: Rating top 5 best opening pairs in History

The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is just a month away and the craze and anticipation for the event which will begin on October 5, is at an all-time high. The tickets for the big matches are being gobbled up online. This will be the first time India will host the entire ODI World Cup on its own. Notably, India have hosted the 1987 World Cup with Pakistan, the 1996 World Cup with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the 2011 World Cup with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, respectively. Batting is one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the ODI matches as the fans love to see their favorite batters score runs and hit sixes and fours. The onus of giving a good start to the batting side is on the two opening batters. There have been many opening pairs who have done well in the World Cup tournament and some of them have gained legendary status due to their performances. Here we are rating of the top 5 best opening pairs in ODI World Cup history: 5. Tilakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga (SL, 7/10) Upul Tharanga and Tilakaratne Dilshan (Photo Source:Twitter) Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the innings for Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup tournament, in which their team made it to the grand final. Notably, the Lankan Lions featured in the second successive final. Dilshan had topped the runs chart for the 2011 World Cup and his partnership at the top with Tharanga was the reason why Sri Lanka got a solid base for big runs in the fag stages of the game. The duo added 800 runs in only 9 matches at an average of 100. The two batters added more than 200 runs for the first wicket twice. The biggest was 282 runs which came against Zimbabwe. Dilshan made 144 and Tharanga scored 133 runs in that match. As a result, Sri Lanka finished with 327/6 on the board. Their next best was a 10-wicket drubbing of England in the quarter-final of the World Cup. Both Dilshan and Tharanga hammered unbeaten centuries. This meant that Sri Lanka chased down 229 runs without breaking a sweat. 4. Aaron Finch and David Warner (AUS, 7/10) David Warner and Aaron Finch (Photo Source: Twitter) David Warner and Aaron Finch opened for Australia in two World Cups in 2015 and 2019, with them winning the tournament in 2015 at home. Together, the two batters added 818 runs in 17 matches with an average of 48.11. Warner and Finch added three hundred-plus runs partnership together and all of them came in the 2019 edition. Their biggest partnership together was against Pakistan in Taunton. Warner made 107 and Finch made 82 as they added 146 runs for the first wicket helping Australia put up 307 runs. Warner and Finch also added 121 against Bangladesh and 123 against England at Lord’s during the 2019 World Cup where the Kangaroos lost to England in the semi-final. 3. Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum (NZ, 7/10) Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill (Photo Source: Twitter) Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill opened the innings for New Zealand in the 2011 and 2015 World Cup editions, respectively. They added 838 runs in 17 matches together. Commendably, the best stand between them was an unbeaten 166 runs and averaged 55.86. Their best opening stand of 166 came against Zimbabwe in the 2011 World Cup. Notably, Guptill scored 86* and McCullum added 76* to overhaul the 163-run target without losing a wicket. Given that both the batters were very good against the pacer, it helped New Zealand a lot in getting good starts. Interestingly, while facing tougher bowling opponents, McCullum went after the bowlers while Guptill stabilized the partnership. 2. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (IND, 9/10) Sachin & Sehwag- WC 2011 (Photo Source: Twitter) The second-best opening partnership in ODI World Cup history is that of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who added 925 runs in 17 matches while opening for India in the ICC event in the 2003 and 2011 editions. Tendulkar and Sehwag complimented each other well as they put up two hundred-plus partnerships in the World Cups. Their biggest came against Sri Lanka in the 2003 edition in South Africa, where the two master blasters added 153 runs with Tendulkar making 97 and Sehwag hitting 66. Then against South Africa in the 2011 World Cup, Sehwag scored 73 and Tendulkar made 111 while adding 142 runs for the first wicket. While they only added more than 100 runs twice, they did India very good starts with 6 fifty or more runs stand. 1. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist (AUS, 9.5/10) Hayden-Gilchrist- WC 2007 (Photo Source: Twitter) However, the golden standard for the openers in ODI World Cup history remains Australia’s Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist as they were part of the dominating run which saw them winning both the 2003 and 2007 World Cup tournaments, without losing a single match. Hayden and Gilchrist opened together in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups 20 times and scored a total of 1220 runs with an average of 64.21 adding 5 centuries and 7 fifty runs stands. They added a hundred runs stands against India twice in the 2003 World Cup and then against South Africa, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup. The biggest stand between the two came in the all-important final of the 2007 edition. Australia batted first after winning the toss and Adam Gilchrist blazed away to 149 in 104 balls he added 172 runs with Hayden in 23 overs with the burly opener only making 38 runs. Australia won the match and lifted their third consecutive World Cup trophy.

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ODI World Cup: Rating top 5 best opening pairs in History

Here is how the five best opening pairs in ICC ODI World Cup history have fared.

3. Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum (NZ, 7/10)

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