Gone are those days where cricketers sustained themselves with some excellent performances in the longest format of the game. Showcasing some extraordinary resilience over the course of years, building a career out of it in the most painstaking ways, cricketers left behind impressive legacies that are hardly found these days.
We will look at six duos of Indian cricketers who spent a lifetime in the whites and were the ones to spend the longest time together in the number of Test matches.
1. Sachin Tendulkar / Rahul Dravid – 146
This duo was indispensable in Test cricket for India as they both joined forces for innumerable times to usher the nation out of ineluctable quagmires. Tendulkar was India’s finest batsman while Dravid was India’s wall.
While Tendulkar hurt the bowlers with his exotic strokeplay, Dravid was more of a copybook cricketer but his heroics lied in his picture-perfect executions.
Sharing 146 caps between them, India won several matches riding on the backs of these two Cricketing Gods.
2. Rahul Dravid / VVS Laxman – 132
With all hopes lost and India staring at a straight defeat as the Australians asked them to follow on at Eden Gardens, that was the first hint of the rise of India’s two midfield titans.
Laxman and Dravid stitched together a stand of 376 runs as India overturned a mammoth deficit to put themselves in the driver’s seat.
That was just the beginning of what would eventually turn out to be one of the finest partnerships in terms of Test cricket.
The two shared 132 matches between them, fighting relentlessly to keep India buoyed even in the deepest waters.
3. Sachin Tendulkar / Anil Kumble – 122
A duo of contrasting colours where one was the epitome of batting while the other exemplified top-notch spin bowling, Sachin and Kumble were two impregnable pillars of Indian success.
Tendulkar and Kumble shared 122 caps between them as the former spearheaded India’s batting while the latter played a pivotal role in wringing out crucial victories on the road for India.
4. Sachin Tendulkar / VVS Laxman – 120
One was known for the classic straight drives while the other with a lifted collar, symbolic of a riot against conventions, invoking memories of an elegant Mohammad Azharuddin, loved to drive those vintage rippers through the covers.
Tendulkar showed predominance at the top of the innings while Laxman stitched his tale with the tail-enders.
Both shared 120 caps between themselves to propel India to its cult status in terms of overseas Test cricket.
5. Rahul Dravid / Saurav Ganguly – 113
These two were another tale of contrasting characters as one was uber-polite while the other bedevilled his counterparts with relentless belligerence.
Captain and vice-captain of India under the tutelage of John Wright, the man who inculcated the winning habit into the Indians, these two played 113 games together.
Hailed as the heroes of countless victories, these two had quite a few stories to tell once they hung their cricketing boots, once and forever.
6. Rahul Dravid / Anil Kumble – 107
These two were extremely close to each other, both on and off the field as the chemistry between these two legends bloomed with a string of fine performances that strengthened India’s case for a resurgence, away from home.
Playing 107 games together, Dravid was one of the biggest bookends of Kumble as those nicks off the cricketers used to fly to Dravid and the man showed extreme panache to pouch them with consummate ease.
