XtraTime Web Desk: Their friendships on and off the cricket field in Indian cricket is known to everyone. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly share a great bond even today after retiring from the game. The two Indian greats were regarded as one of the most destructive opening pair in One Day International. In 136 ODI matches they opened for the country, they scored 6,609 runs at an average of over 48, including 21 hundred-plus partnerships and 23 fifty-plus.
However, there’s an interesting fun fact which many people don’t know. Tendulkar was at the non-striker’s end in both Ganguly’s first and last international game.
When Ganguly made his ODI debut against West Indies on June 11, 1992, Tendulkar was standing at the non-striker’s end. In that match, Ganguly had come out to bat at No. 6 and scored three runs before he was out.
Similarly, when the Prince of Kolkata walked out to bat in his last innings in international cricket against Australia in Nagpur in 2008 (November 6-10), Tendulkar was at the non-strikers end.
While Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India in which he scored 7212 and 11363 runs respectively, Tendulkar represented India in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20I in which he amassed 15921, 18426 and 10 runs respectively.