Some of the international batsmen understand each other so well that they don’t even need to call while trying to go for a run. They just look at each other and the understanding is so good that they just know if the other batsman is coming for the run or not.
However, this is the exact opposite in the case of some other batting pairs. No matter how hard they try, they always end of running each other out. Here are the 5 batting pairs who had a poor understanding of running between the wickets –
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are one of the most successful batting pairs in white-ball cricket at the moment as they have stitched together a number of match-winning partnerships for India, but they have also run each other out a lot.
However, the interesting thing is that whenever they run each other out, one of the remaining batsmen goes on to score big and makes up for the other’s run out. In the match where Rohit scored his first-ever double hundred against Australia, he had actually run Virat Kohli out earlier in the innings.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharna
The pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharna was again a lethal batting pair at the top of the order for Sri Lanka. They actually changed the way ODI cricket was played in the mid-90s. They went after the bowlers early, which was not really a norm in those days.
But, while they were devastating as an opening pair, Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna were not great in terms of calling for quick singles or judging the pace of the fielder close-by. They got run out a lot while batting with each other.
Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan
Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan batted a lot with each other in white-ball cricket because Dilshan was an opener, while Sangakkara used to bat at no. 3.
Dilshan was a completely different type of batsman compared to Sangakkara. He was more destructive, while Sangakkara was a constructive and classical player. Because of their different styles, Dilshan and Sangakkara complemented each other well, while being together at the crease.
But, they ran each other out as many as eight times in One Day International cricket.
Faf Du Plessis and AB de Villiers
Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers have been batting in the middle order for South Africa in the last decade or so. While Du Plessis has been batting at no. 4, De Villiers’ batting position in most of the games has been no. 5 and it’s not really a surprise that these two have found themselves together at the crease in a number of games.
Du Plessis and De Villiers are actually tremendous athletes and are brilliant runners between the wickets by themselves. But, they always have confusion running together which has resulted in plenty of run-outs between them.
Arjuna Ranatunga and Arvinda de Silva
While Arvinda de Silva was a decent runner between the wickets, Arjuna Ranatunga was never a great athlete. Ranatunga was a very watchable stroke-player and one of the match-winners for Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket, but he didn’t believe in a lot of running.
While Ranatunga was always a bit hesitant going for quick singles, De Silva would often look for quick singles which caused quite a bit of misunderstanding between the two when they were batting together.
