Stats: Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane's resilient and long partnerships in Test cricket

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stood up against the England bowling on the opening day of the Nottingham Test match after they lost three wickets in a quick succession. India’s captain and vice-captain stitched a big partnership as India didn’t lose a wicket in the 2nd session. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul added 60 in 18.4 overs for the opening wicket before both got out across three overs. Cheteshwar Pujara also departed in the final over before lunch leaving India at 82/3.

Kohli and Rahane batted positively scoring boundaries regularly in the post-lunch session and put India back on top. The pair added 159 for the 4th wicket in 40.2 overs before Rahane got out scoring 81 off 131 balls with 12 fours. The stand came to an end due to a spectacular catch by Alastair Cook at first slip. This game also helped Ajinkya Rahane regain his confidence as he had an average in the 10s in last 9-10 months.

Most 150+ partnerships by a pair in Test cricket since 2011:

Two of India’s most reliable Test players now have six century partnerships between them out of which five have been 150+ stands. Since 2011, Kohli-Rahane and Vijay-Pujara pairs are the only pairs with 150+ partnerships in the longer format. The two Indian leaders have five century partnerships between them for the 4th wicket of which four have been 150+ stands. Only two pairs have shared more than four 150+ partnerships in Test cricket for the 4th wicket.

Most 150+ partnerships by a pair for the 4th wicket in Test cricket:

India’s Sachin-Ganguly pair and Pakistan’s Misbah-Younis pair got together for five 150+ stands for the 4th wicket in this format. Three pairs including Kohli-Rahane have four 150+ partnerships in this format. The Indian pair has played crucial partnerships for the team while touring outside Asia. Kohli and Rahane have put on three century stands outside Asia. In the last ten years, only the pair of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir had three 100-run partnerships in this format outside Asia for India.

Most century partnerships outside Asia for an Indian pair in Test cricket since 2008:

(Stats as on August 18, 2018)

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