5 Indian Cricket facts that might sound fake but are actually true

1. Four Indian batsmen together put on an opening partnership of 408 runs for the first wicket

Are you wondering how this happened? To understand this in more detail, let us travel to the year 2007. In May 2007, India and Bangladesh locked horns in the 2nd Test match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

India batted first and posted a mammoth total of 610/3 on the board. And, they lost their first wicket with their scorecard reading 408. But then, not two, but 4 batsmen helped India post an ‘opening’ partnership of 408.

Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik opened the batting for India. But then, Dinesh Karthik decided to get ‘retired’ during the Tea break on Day 1 as he could not withstand the extreme heat. So, Rahul Dravid walked out and joined Jaffer out in the middle. And, when the Indian scorecard read 281, Wasim Jaffer could not carry on any further due to exhaustion, and he too retired when he was batting on 138. And, the iconic Sachin Tendulkar joined Dravid.

Dravid and Tendulkar made merry at the expense of the Bangladesh bowlers. But then, with the scorecard reading 408, Dravid was the first Indian batsman to be dismissed and hit Mohammed Rafique to the fielder who was stationed at point. And as a result, the first Indian wicket fell with the scorecard reading 408. Dinesh Karthik came back to bat once again and completed his century. He was dismissed for 129.

The ‘God of cricket’, Sachin Tendulkar too, scored a classy 122* as India finished with a total in excess of 600 in their first innings. The Bangladeshi willow wielders were not up to the task. In their first innings, they scored just 118 and were asked to follow on. In the second innings too, Bangladesh refused to show any fight and was bowled out for 253, as India thrashed their opposition by an innings and 239 runs.