Hafeez, Taufeeq break new ground for Pakistan

When Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar walked out to bat in the Chittagong Test, they were opening the innings for Pakistan for the 21st consecutive time. It would have been an unremarkable number had it not been for the fact that no other pair had opened in more successive innings for Pakistan. Not even Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail. Hafeez and Taufeeq celebrated the occasion with a 164-run partnership.

This week's column is about teams with unchanged openers for the most consecutive innings, as well as teams that used the most openers in a year.

Hafeez and Taufeeq's 21-innings stretch, and those of most other openers, pales in comparison to the 91 consecutive times that Australia opened with Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. The next best is 43, between England's Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. Hayden and Langer began their partnership at The Oval in August 2001. They added 158, and Langer, who replaced Michael Slater at the top of Australia's order, went on to make 102 before retiring hurt. Hayden and Langer added 224 in Australia's next innings - against New Zealand at the Gabba in November. In the second innings of that match, Australia, chasing quick runs for a competitive declaration, sent Adam Gilchrist to open with Hayden. It was the last time they opened without Hayden and Langer until November 2005, when Langer suffered a broken rib and gave Michael Hussey, a veteran with 15,313 first-class runs, the opportunity to make his Test debut against West Indies. After that stretch of 91 consecutive innings, the second longest Langer and Hayden had was nine, during the 2006-07 Ashes.

England's present opening combination of Strauss and Cook came closest to challenging the Hayden-Langer mark. They opened in 23 consecutive innings between November 2006 and August 2007 before Strauss was dropped for the tour of Sri Lanka and then recalled to No. 3 for the tour of New Zealand in 2007-08. Strauss was back to opening with Cook for the home series against New Zealand in 2008 and that was the start of their 43-innings stretch. It ended only because Strauss chose to rest from the tour of Bangladesh in 2010. Strauss returned for the home series against Bangladesh that followed and has since opened with Cook in 27 consecutive innings.

Most consecutive innings with the same pair of openers - Tests

Team	Player	Inns	Start Match	Opp	Scorecard	End Match	Opp	Scorecard
Australia	ML Hayden, JL Langer	91	Nov 22, 2001	v NZ	Test 1571	Oct 17, 2005	v ICC	Test 1768
England	AN Cook, AJ Strauss	43	May 15, 2008	v NZ	Test 1874	Jan 17, 2010	v SA	Test 1948
England	AJ Strauss, ME Trescothick	40	May 20, 2004	v NZ	Test 1700	Nov 24, 2005	v Pak	Test 1772
West Indies	CG Greenidge, DL Haynes	39	Jan 2, 1982	v Aus	Test 917	Nov 26, 1984	v Aus	Test 999
Australia	MJ Slater, MA Taylor	38	Mar 17, 1994	v SA	Test 1253	Oct 13, 1996	v India	Test 1335
South Africa	HH Gibbs, GC Smith	33	Nov 15, 2002	v SL	Test 1626	Mar 30, 2004	v NZ	Test 1692
England	G Boycott, GA Gooch	32	Jan 4, 1980	v Aus	Test 868	Jul 21, 1981	v Aus	Test 905
Bangladesh	Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal	32	Nov 19, 2008	v SA	Test 1893	Nov 2, 2011	v WI	Test 2012
England	MA Atherton, ME Trescothick	30	Aug 3, 2000	v WI	Test 1506	Aug 27, 2001	v Aus	Test 1558
India	CPS Chauhan, SM Gavaskar	29	Jan 12, 1979	v WI	Test 841	Feb 3, 1980	v Pak	Test 871
West Indies	CG Greenidge, DL Haynes	29	Aug 4, 1988	v Eng	Test 1102	Nov 25, 1990	v Pak	Test 1157
Australia	GR Marsh, MA Taylor	29	Mar 15, 1990	v NZ	Test 1141	Jan 29, 1992	v India	Test 1184
West Indies	DL Haynes, PV Simmons	29	Jun 6, 1991	v Eng	Test 1171	Feb 24, 1994	v Eng	Test 1250
Sri Lanka	MS Atapattu, ST Jayasuriya	28	Mar 16, 2004	v Aus	Test 1688	Sep 22, 2005	v Ban	Test 1766
England	ME Trescothick, MP Vaughan	27	Sep 5, 2002	v India	Test 1614	Nov 1, 2003	v Ban	Test 1667
England	AN Cook, AJ Strauss	27	May 27, 2010	v Ban	Test 1958	Aug 22, 2011	v India	Test 2004
Australia	WM Lawry, KR Stackpole	26	Jan 24, 1969	v WI	Test 645	Dec 16, 1970	v Eng	Test 675
West Indies	D Ganga, CH Gayle	25	Mar 9, 2006	v NZ	Test 1787	Jun 19, 2007	v Eng	Test 1836

Of the major Test sides (Zimbabwe excluded), which team's longest streak by the same pair of openers is the smallest? It isn't Bangladesh - Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal opened 32 times in a row (seventh highest) before Kayes was dropped for the Chittagong Test against Pakistan. It is New Zealand. The 16 consecutive innings that Bruce Edgar and John Wright opened in between November 1980 and March 1982 form their longest stretch. Darrin Murray and Bryan Young matched it in 1994-95.

While England now have a stable opening combination, they once set benchmarks in using the most openers in a year. Most of those years, however, were pre-war, and the last year in which England used nine openers was 1963.

Australia were the only other team to use nine openers in a year - in 1977 and 1979, both Packer years. In 1977, four of the openers Australia used - Ian Davis, Rick McCosker, Kerry O'Keeffe and Richie Robinson - signed up for World Series Cricket, necessitating the use of more. O'Keeffe, a legspinner, opened only once in his career - in the second innings of the Centenary Test, after McCosker had his jaw broken by Bob Willis.

Most openers used in a year - Tests

Team	Year	Num	Mat	Inns
England	1921	11	8	16
G Brown, AE Dipper, C Hallows, HTW Hardinge, JB Hobbs, P Holmes, DJ Knight, CH Parkin, W Rhodes, CAG Russell, FE Woolley
England	1930	11	14	26
EH Bowley, WL Cornford, EW Dawson, AHH Gilligan, G Gunn, JB Hobbs, M Leyland, A Sandham, H Sutcliffe, FE Woolley, RES Wyatt
England	1935	11	9	16
AH Bakewell, K Farnes, W Farrimond, J Iddon, M Leyland, A Mitchell, CIJ Smith, D Smith, H Sutcliffe, DCH Townsend, RES Wyatt
England	1896	9	6	10
R Abel, HR Butt, WG Grace, AJL Hill, Hon.FS Jackson, GA Lohmann, Sir TC O'Brien, AE Stoddart, CW Wright
England	1899	9	7	13
JT Brown, CB Fry, WG Grace, TW Hayward, Hon.FS Jackson, AC MacLaren, F Mitchell, WG Quaife, PF Warner
England	1954	9	12	21
TE Bailey, WJ Edrich, TW Graveney, L Hutton, PBH May, Rev.DS Sheppard, RT Simpson, RT Spooner, W Watson
England	1955	9	9	15
TE Bailey, DB Close, WJ Edrich, TW Graveney, L Hutton, JT Ikin, D Kenyon, FA Lowson, RT Simpson
England	1963	9	11	20
KF Barrington, JB Bolus, MC Cowdrey, JH Edrich, R Illingworth, G Pullar, PE Richardson, Rev.DS Sheppard, MJ Stewart
Australia	1977	9	13	25
GJ Cosier, IC Davis, J Dyson, PA Hibbert, RB McCosker, KJ O'Keeffe, RD Robinson, CS Serjeant, A Turner
Australia	1979	9	14	28
WM Darling, AMJ Hilditch, BM Laird, RB McCosker, DF Whatmore, JM Wiener, GM Wood, GN Yallop, B Yardley
England	1884	8	4	7

The most consecutive innings by openers in ODIs is 42, by Australia's Mark Waugh and Gilchrist between April 1998 and October 1999, a period that included a World Cup victory. They beat the 40 consecutive innings that their predecessors David Boon and Geoff Marsh strung together between April 1987 and October 1989 - which too, coincidentally, included World Cup success.

The record for most opening partnerships belongs to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who opened for India in 176 ODIs. The most they managed in a row, though, was only 17, between March and October 2000.

Most consecutive innings with the same pair of openers - ODIs

Team	Player	Inns	Start Match	Opp	Scorecard	End Match	Opp	Scorecard
Australia	AC Gilchrist, ME Waugh	42	Apr 22, 1998	v India	ODI 1325	Oct 23, 1999	v Zim	ODI 1520
Australia	DC Boon, GR Marsh	40	Apr 9, 1987	v Eng	ODI 446	Oct 27, 1989	v India	ODI 587
England	NV Knight, ME Trescothick	40	Oct 3, 2001	v Zim	ODI 1751	Mar 2, 2003	v Aus	ODI 1976
Pakistan	Aamer Sohail, Saeed Anwar	32	Mar 3, 1994	v NZ	ODI 889	Feb 25, 1995	v Zim	ODI 982
Sri Lanka	ST Jayasuriya, RS Kaluwitharana	32	Jan 9, 1996	v Aus	ODI 1032	Apr 7, 1997	v Pak	ODI 1193
Australia	DC Boon, GR Marsh	22	Jan 14, 1986	v NZ	ODI 350	Jan 1, 1987	v Eng	ODI 409
South Africa	AC Hudson, KC Wessels	22	Dec 7, 1992	v India	ODI 770	Dec 9, 1993	v Aus	ODI 860
Zimbabwe	GW Flower, NC Johnson	22	Nov 20, 1998	v Pak	ODI 1375	Oct 21, 1999	v Aus	ODI 1518
New Zealand	BA Edgar, JG Wright	19	Jan 10, 1981	v India	ODI 105	Jan 22, 1983	v Aus	ODI 173
South Africa	HH Gibbs, GC Smith	19	Jan 25, 2004	v WI	ODI 2088	Jan 30, 2005	v Eng	ODI 2216
Bangladesh	Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal	19	Jan 4, 2010	v SL	ODI 2937	Jul 20, 2010	v Neth	ODI 3029
Bangladesh	Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal	18	Dec 1, 2010	v Zim	ODI 3071	Aug 21, 2011	v Zim	ODI 3183
West Indies	CG Greenidge, DL Haynes	17	Jan 10, 1982	v Aus	ODI 133	Jun 18, 1983	v Aus	ODI 215
Pakistan	Aamer Sohail, Rameez Raja	17	Mar 11, 1992	v Aus	ODI 739	Dec 28, 1992	v NZ	ODI 786
India	SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar	17	Mar 9, 2000	v SA	ODI 1572	Oct 20, 2000	v SL	ODI 1640
South Africa	HM Amla, GC Smith	17	Nov 5, 2010	v Pak	ODI 3067	Oct 28, 2011	v Aus	ODI 3211
Pakistan	Aamer Sohail, Saeed Anwar	16	Feb 24, 1996	v UAE	ODI 1059	Aug 31, 1996	v Eng	ODI 1109
India	SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar	15	Sep 20, 1998	v Pak	ODI 1353	Jan 16, 1999	v NZ	ODI 1385
Australia	AC Gilchrist, ME Waugh	15	Jan 9, 2000	v Pak	ODI 1536	Mar 1, 2000	v NZ	ODI 1570
England	AJ Stewart, ME Trescothick	15	Jul 8, 2000	v Zim	ODI 1607	Mar 27, 2001	v SL	ODI 1697
West Indies	CH Gayle, WW Hinds	15	Nov 6, 2002	v India	ODI 1893	Feb 28, 2003	v SL	ODI 1973
Zimbabwe	S Matsikenyeri, BRM Taylor	15	Apr 25, 2004	v SL	ODI 2122	Dec 5, 2004	v Eng	ODI 2197
South Africa	AB de Villiers, GC Smith	15	Dec 3, 2006	v India	ODI 2458	Apr 25, 2007	v Aus	ODI 2580

By coincidence, the most openers used by a team in ODIs in a year is the same as in Tests - 11. Pakistan used 11 in 2002, Zimbabwe in 2003 and Bangladesh in 2004. Bangladesh, however, used 11 in only 19 games, while Pakistan used 11 in 38. Zimbabwe's 11 openers in 2003 were spread across 21 matches.

Most openers used in a year - ODIs

Team	Year	Num	Mat	Inns
Pakistan	2002	11	38	38
Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Naved Latif, Saeed Anwar, Saleem Elahi, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Taufeeq Umar
Zimbabwe	2003	11	21	21
ADR Campbell, CK Coventry, DD Ebrahim, GW Flower, TR Gripper, DA Marillier, BG Rogers, V Sibanda, MA Vermeulen, GJ Whittall, CB Wishart
Bangladesh	2004	11	19	19
Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarkar, Javed Omar, Manjural Islam Rana, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Nafees Iqbal, Rajin Saleh, Shahriar Hossain
Pakistan	1989	10	27	27
Aamer Malik, Javed Miandad, Mansoor Akhtar, Moin-ul-Atiq, Mudassar Nazar, Rameez Raja, Saeed Anwar, Saleem Yousuf, Shahid Saeed, Shoaib Mohammad
India	1996	10	32	32
SC Ganguly, A Jadeja, SV Manjrekar, NR Mongia, M Prabhakar, WV Raman, V Rathour, NS Sidhu, S Somasunder, SR Tendulkar
West Indies	1996	10	20	20
CO Browne, SL Campbell, S Chanderpaul, AFG Griffith, JR Murray, RB Richardson, RG Samuels, PV Simmons, PA Wallace, SC Williams
Pakistan	1998	10	26	26
Aamer Sohail, Abdul Razzaq, Asif Mahmood, Azhar Mahmood, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim, Saeed Anwar, Saleem Elahi, Shahid Afridi
Zimbabwe	2001	10	37	37
ADR Campbell, DD Ebrahim, GW Flower, TR Gripper, TN Madondo, DA Marillier, H Masakadza, GJ Rennie, PA Strang, GJ Whittall
Bangladesh	2003	10	21	21
Al Sahariar, Ehsanul Haque, Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarkar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud, Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Moniruzzaman, Nafees Iqbal
Pakistan	2009	10	20	20
Ahmed Shehzad, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Nasir Jamshed, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan

Thank you to Mazher Arshad for bringing the Hafeez-Taufeeq statistic to our attention.