Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly post first 100+ stand for India on July 4, 1996: Watch

The Indian cricket team has always been renowned for the batsmen it has produced over the years, whether it is in terms of individual success or rock-solid partnerships. Talking about partnerships, the two names that come to the minds of many fans would arguably be Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Although Ganguly took time to find his feet in international cricket, once he did, alongside Tendulkar he proved to be unstoppable nearly every time they were at the crease together.

It is believed widely that Ganguly was more of an ODI batsman and not as accomplished in Tests as the likes of Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. However, it remains an irony that the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ scored two of his 16 Test centuries in his debut series itself. In 1996, on the tour of England, Ganguly made his mark at the No. 3 position.

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The first-ever 'massive' Ganguly Tendulkar partnership that was a sign of things to come

Although Ganguly partnered with fellow debutant Rahul Dravid in the Lord’s Test to save India with a gritty 131, the dashing left-hander got an opportunity to shine alongside Tendulkar in the following match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. As a result, Saturday, July 4, marks the 24th anniversary of arguably India’s most accomplished batting duo putting up a century partnership for the first time for the national side.

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Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and elected to bat in the final Test match. With the visitors struggling at 33/2, Sourav Ganguly joined hands with his ‘roommate’ on the trip, Sachin Tendulkar, to come up with a mammoth 255-run stand for the third wicket. The partnership remains a rare occurrence for the Indian team, which has often been criticised in the past for their inability to compete in Test matches overseas. An interesting fact is that the 255 runs between Ganguly and Tendulkar constitute the highest partnership for the third wicket by any Indian batting pair outside the Indian subcontinent even after 24 years.

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Sourav Ganguly bettered his Lord’s tally by 5 runs, ending up with 136 by batting the whole of Day 1 in style. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar would surely remember the match for his innings of 177, which continued to be his highest Test score outside the Indian subcontinent till the famous Headingley 2002 Test match against England itself.

From the team’s point of view, India could not taste victory in the Test as England piled up 564 in reply in the first innings itself. Yet it was on July 4 that the ‘Master Blaster’ found an able batting partner after captain Mohammad Azharuddin to take India to many victories in all formats of the game for years to come. And that was Sourav Ganguly, who incidentally turned 24 four days after that partnership, as the Sourav Ganguly birthday falls on July 8.

Eventually, the Sachin Tendulkar centuries count reached a world record 51 in Tests by the time he retired in November 2013. The Ganguly Tendulkar partnership largely helped the current BCCI President end his career in 2008 with 16 Test centuries and 22 ODI hundreds. One of the other highlights of the famed Ganguly Tendulkar partnership is that the latter was at the non-striker's end during the former's first and last international match of his career.

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The best of Sachin Tendulkar centuries: 177 vs England, 1996; watch video

(VIDEO COURTESY: SHEEN JOHN/YOUTUBE)

Ganguly Tendulkar partnership: Sourav Ganguly's contribution of 136; watch video

(VIDEO CREDIT: indiancricketfans.com/YouTube)

(IMAGE CREDIT: AP)