Team India won a very close match against Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 17. They won the series by winning all three games.
In the first innings, India scored 212 runs. Afghanistan also scored 212 runs. In the Super Over, both teams scored the same number of runs again. Finally, India’s Ravi Bishnoi stopped Afghanistan from scoring 11 runs in the second Super Over to win the match.
Many records were broken in this game, including the highest partnership score by an Indian pair in T20Is. Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh were the best players of the match. Their partnership of 190 runs was the highest in the game. Rohit scored 121 not out, and Rinku scored 69 not out in just 39 balls.
Now, let’s see the top five highest partnerships for India in men’s T20Is.
5. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma vs Ireland- 160 runs (2018)
Before their two-month tour of England in 2018, India played two T20I matches against Ireland in Dublin. Captain Virat Kohli led India’s best team against the Irish squad.
In the first T20I, India batted first. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a strong start. Dhawan played aggressively from the beginning, while Rohit took some time to settle in.
Soon, Rohit also started playing aggressively, and the pair reached a 100-run partnership by the 11th over. Both batsmen hit five sixes each. Dhawan scored 74 runs, and Rohit just missed his century, getting out for 97 in the final over. Their performances helped India reach a total of 208-5.
The Irish team struggled against India’s bowlers, especially Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who took seven wickets between them. India won the match easily by 76 runs.
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4. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill vs West Indies- 165 (2023)
In 2023, during an important T20I match against the West Indies in Lauderhill, Florida, young Indian cricketers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill played exceptionally well. They helped India win by chasing a target of 179 runs comfortably, finishing the game with three overs to spare.
Jaiswal began strongly, hitting a boundary on the first ball and continued to play aggressively during the initial overs. Gill started cautiously, recovering from a recent poor form in this type of cricket.
Together, they scored runs quickly, reaching a partnership of 100 runs by the tenth over. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries in the 11th over. The West Indies bowlers struggled to contain their powerful batting. The opening pair added 165 runs before Gill got out for 77. Jaiswal remained not out on 84, smashing 11 fours and three sixes.
3. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul vs Sri Lanka- 165 (2017)
One of the most amazing innings for India in international cricket was played by Rohit Sharma. He scored 118 runs from only 43 balls against Sri Lanka.
After three Test matches and three ODIs, India and Sri Lanka were set to play a 3-match T20I series. India easily won the first T20I in Cuttack. To clinch the series, India batted first in the second T20I in Indore.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul played at Holkar Stadium and dominated the game. They made a record-breaking partnership of 165 runs. Rahul scored 89 runs from 49 balls, showing excellent performance. But Rohit Sharma was exceptional.
Both batsmen played aggressively right from the start on the friendly Indore pitch. Rohit had an incredible strike rate of 274.42, reaching his century in just 35 balls. This is tied for the fastest century in T20Is by a player from a full-member team.
Rahul, who had scored a half-century in the previous match, hit five boundaries and eight sixes. Together, they scored a total of 207 runs in just 92 balls.
Their 165-run partnership is India’s highest opening stand in T20 international matches.
2. Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda vs Ireland- 176 runs (2022)
Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda both scored a lot of runs against Ireland. They played very well in the first T20I match in Dublin in June 2022.
When Ishan Kishan got out early with just 3 runs, Hooda and Samson teamed up and made a great partnership of 176 runs.
Once they got used to the playing conditions, they started hitting boundaries and scoring many fours and sixes. Samson reached his first T20I fifty in the 13th over, while Hooda got his fifty in just 27 balls.
Hooda went on to score his first international century. Both Samson and Hooda hit the ball at a fast rate, around 183 runs per hundred balls. Their partnership of 176 runs is the second highest for India in T20I matches.
Although Ireland tried hard to chase the target, India won the game by four runs in the end.
1. Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh vs Afghanistan- 190* runs – (2024)
Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh recently made a new record in T20 International cricket. They achieved the highest partnership for India and the highest ever for the fifth or lower wicket in T20I history.
During the third T20I against Afghanistan, India faced a tough situation with a score of 22/4 after 4.3 overs. However, Rohit and Rinku changed the game by dominating the Afghan bowlers.
The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was challenging for batting, especially early on. Rohit struggled initially but kept trying to score runs despite India’s early difficulties.
Rinku joined Rohit during the powerplay. While Rinku played cautiously at first, Rohit attacked aggressively. By the 10th over, India’s score was 61/4. After that, both batsmen began scoring more freely.
In the final 10 overs of the innings, they scored 151 runs. Rohit also made history by becoming the first player to score five centuries in T20 Internationals. Together, Rohit and Rinku hit 14 sixes, exciting the crowd in Bengaluru.
The Afghan bowlers couldn’t break their partnership, and the duo finished the innings with an unbeaten partnership of 190 runs off just 93 balls. This remarkable fifth-wicket partnership set a new record as the highest partnership for any non-opening pair in T20I history among full member nations.
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