Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill emerged as the two brightest stars during the fourth T20I of the ongoing India’s tour of West Indies on the back of registering the joint-highest first wicket partnership for India. They are now right at the top with the pair of senior batters Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for the very record which they had held on to exclusively for more than 5 years.
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Chasing a competitive 178-run target to keep the hopes of a five-match T20I series win alive, the Jaiswal-Gill pair hit the accelerator right from the get go. The stand only ended after each of the two batters reached their individual half-centuries and the target deficit remained mere 14 runs.
In fact, by the end of the powerplay, the pair had already posted 66 runs on the scoreboard to lay an ideal foundation for the highest-successful T20I run-chase in Lauderhill.
Yashasvi Jaiswal And Shubman Gill Stitch Highest 1st Wicket Partnership In T20I International For India
Gill and Jaiswal added 165 runs for the first wicket off mere 94 deliveries. While the Punjab batter went past the score of fifty (77 off 47) for the second time in T20Is, left-handed Jaiswal smashed his maiden white-ball half-century (84* off 51) in only second innings in an international match.
Jaiswal, in fact, became the fourth-youngest player to score a T20I half-century for India at 21 years and 227 days, after the likes of Sharma (20 years 143 days in 2007), Tilak Varma (20 years 271 days in 2023), and Rishabh Pant (21 years 38 days in 2018).
Resultantly, India chased down the target with nine wickets in hand and 18 deliveries to spare. The series score line stands at 2-2 with the final T20I set to be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma And KL Rahul Had Registered India’s Highest T20I Opening Partnership 5 Years Ago
More than five years ago, during the second T20I against Sri Lanka in December 2017 at the Holkar Stadium, the Indian opening pair of Sharma and Rahul had registered the highest opening stand in T20Is for India.
Batting first on a belter of a wicket in Indore, the two right-handed batters had put together a 165-run stand off 76 deliveries for the first wicket. While Rohit (118 off 43) equaled the record for fastest T20I century off mere 35 balls, Rahul (89 off 49) had scored his third T20I fifty at the time.
Both the pairs (Jaiswal-Gill and Sharma-Rahul) are now placed jointly at the second spot in the list of highest partnership (for any wicket) for India in T20Is. At the first place is the pair of Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson. The duo had struck a 176-run partnership for the second wicket during the second T20I versus Ireland in Dublin last year.
