The Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul pair has shattered a 38-year-old record to register a new all-time India record for the most runs by an opening duo in an innings of a Test match against Australia in Australia.
Jaiswal and Rahul have added 192 runs for the first wicket in the second innings of the Perth Test and reduced the previous all-time India record for the highest opening partnership against Australia in Australia to dust.
The record previously belonged to the pair of Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Srikkanth and Gavaskar had added 191 runs for the first wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in January 1986 to set up the record.
Highest opening partnerships in Tests for India in Australia
| Pair |
Partnership |
Venue |
Year |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul |
201 |
Perth |
2024 |
| Sunil Gavaskar and K Srikkanth |
191 |
Sydney |
1986 |
| Chetan Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar |
165 |
Melbourne |
1981 |
| Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag |
141 |
Melbourne |
2003 |
| MH Mankad and CT Sarwate |
124 |
Melbourne |
1948 |
The Rahul-Jaiswal pair added 201 runs for the first wicket before Mitchell Starc snapped the partnership. Starc made Rahul edge one to the wicketkeeper Alex Carey on the final ball of the 63rd over. Rahul's vigil in the middle came to an end after he scored 77 runs off 176 balls.
The mammoth opening stand between Jaiswal and Rahul has put India in a commanding position in the ongoing Perth Test. India are already leading Australia by more than 250 runs and would like to post a target of over 400 for the hosts to chase in the fourth innings.
India (Playing XI):
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj
Australia (Playing XI):
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
.
