As ever, the Indian Premier League has succeeded to favour the feisty brand of T20 Cricket likely in every way. IPL has established itself as a rich brand in the world of sports.
Still, in all, happy moments of thirteen years, and it is very significant to take a minute to please a few words on the openers who featured in every edition of this cash-rich tournament.
Openers, precisely in T20 cricket, play a pivotal role in expediting a good start and lay a base for the rest to hang in. In a nutshell, openers are the key to success in the game of cricket. This feature focus on the five best opening pairs in the history of the Indian Premier League ever.
5. Chris Gayle & Virat Kohli
The prolific opening pair of C Gayle and Virat Kohli has been the favourites among other partnership stands of RCB. One of the major pillars of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s rise in the IPL over years is the consistency and the class displayed by V Kohli. The universal boss is no exception to this. This destructive opening pair had been a major threat for many teams in IPL and in the Champions League Twenty-Twenty.
Gayle’s ability to hit sixes and Virat’s consistency amid the wickets provided the Bengaluru based franchise a good opening partnerships in the past.
4. Brendon McCullum & Dwayne Smith
One of the finest opening pairs on the sheet, Dwayne Smith and B McCullum have played a lethal role in CSK’s fortunes in the past. This Duo joined the yellow army in the year 2014, and this partnership almost feared every opposition in the IPL tournament.
The Kiwi’s aggression and Smith’s ability to clear boundaries settled every concern of Chennai’s batting order. This duo recorded their first 100 run stand in their first-ever match for the Chennai based franchise.
The duo carried their momentum for Gujarat Lions as well, when the Chennai based franchise was suspended due to match-fixing allegations.
3. Gautam Gambhir & Robin Uthappa
One of the major pillars behind Kolkata’s success and prosperity in the Indian Premier League, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa are arguably the best Indian opening pair that IPL has ever witnessed.
The pair got acquainted in the 2014 edition, where Robin Uthappa joined this Kolkata based franchise. The pair is best remembered for carrying off the opponents bowling line-up in the powerplays. Gautam’s calmness and thanks to robin’s ability to hit boundaries, that stitched perfect partnership stands for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2014 to 2017. The pair patched up an aggregate of 1900 runs in 50 innings.
2. Mike Hussey & M Vijay
In views saluting to the Indian Premier League, this stand-out opening pair had contributed an immense batting strength to the Chennai Super Kings side. The Chennai lad and the Mr Cricket were very successful and consistent at top of the order for CSK.
Being a left-right combo, they nonchalantly gave hard wrecks to the opposition’s bowlers. In 2011 this combo packed a valiant 159 run stand against the Bengaluru based franchise.
The amazing duo of Chennai had eight half-century stands, and two century stands. This partnership pair played an important role in CSK’s 2011 title-winning campaign.
1 . David Warner & Shikar Dhawan
The stand-out openers David Warner and Shikar Dhawan needs no introduction to this cash-rich league. With no qualms, one could term them the best opening pair ever in the history of the Indian Premier League. Strong against pace and spin, rapid between wickets this partnership had never failed to fascinate the fans.
They assisted the Hyderabad side with several match-winning partnerships. The duo has piled up a mammoth tally of 2357 runs in just 50 innings. They have 4 century-opening stands in total. Invincible pair, who could disrupt any opposition’s bowling line up. Thanks to Warner’s aggression and Dhawan’s composure which helped their side to lift their first-ever IPL trophy in the year 2016.
