From the time Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting in ODIs in 1994, India have been fortunate to unearth combines adept at making the most of the field restrictions first up to get the team off to a cracking start. Most sides rely on a good base from which to tee off, but few are as dependent on a good start as India. First with Sourav Ganguly and then with Virender Sehwag, Tendulkar ensured that oftentimes, India’s middle order walked into a solid platform.

Tendulkar’s successor

In Rohit Sharma, India have found a wonderful successor to Tendulkar. Rohit’s limited-overs careers had hit a rut when, in January 2013, Mahendra Singh Dhoni took one of his celebrated calculated punts and thrust the Mumbaikar to the top of the batting tree. Welcoming the fresh lease of life gleefully, Rohit has spent the last decade destroying the best of attacks with practiced nonchalance.