Sourav Ganguly opens up about mystery behind Sachin Tendulkar not taking strike in ODIs

The Ganguly Tendulkar partnership has been one of the most loved batting partnerships in world cricket. The partnership also holds several cricketing records and is considered to be one of the best opening pairs to ever grace the game. In a recent chat with Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal, the BCCI President has given an insight into the Ganguly Tendulkar relationship. The BCCI President has also shared an interesting story about the pair.

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Sourav Ganguly reveals the reason behind Sachin Tendulkar not taking strike during ODIs

While speaking to Mayank Agarwal, Sourav Ganguly revealed the reason why Sachin Tendulkar would never take the strike during their playing days together. Ganguly said that Sachin Tendulkar always used to force him to take the strike in ODIs. He also went on to reveal what Sachin Tendulkar used to say to him to convince him to face the first ball. The former Indian captain revealed that if Sachin Tendulkar was in good form, he would tell Sourav Ganguly to take the strike so that the latter could continue his run of form. Sourav Ganguly also revealed that in the instance Tendulkar was going through a bad patch, he'd tell Ganguly that he would stay at the non-striker's end as it helps in taking the pressure off.

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Sourav Ganguly also went on to reveal how he managed to get Sachin Tendulkar to take the strike on a few occasions. The BCCI President revealed that the only way to get Sachin Tendulkar to take strike was to walk past him and stand at the non-striker's end. Sourav Ganguly revealed that since Sachin Tendulkar was already on TV, the batsman would be forced to take the strike and face the first ball. Sourav Ganguly claimed during the interview that he had done that a couple of times in his career.

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The Ganguly Tendulkar partnership, one of the best opening pairs Indian cricket has seen

The runs amassed by Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar together speak for themselves. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly opened together for India in 136 ODI innings. The Ganguly Tendulkar partnership amassed 6,609 runs for India. This is the most by an opening pair in ODIs. The highest partnership involving these two icons was in Kenya when the Ganguly Tendulkar partnership yielded 258 runs for India. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly also top the list of highest overall partnership runs by a pair. The Ganguly Tendulkar partnership has yielded 8,227 runs in 176 innings for India.

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