Asia Cup

India have unleashed another opening terror in ODI's to the cricketing world after the Sachin Tendulkar- Saurav Ganguly era.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been tearing bowling attacks around the globe to pieces with deadly consistency. Their advent began since the T20 World Championship in South Africa in 2007, when they inevitaby took India off to flyers almost every time they walked into the middle with their wide blades.

With Ganguly being quietly pushed out of the Indian side in pursuit of youth and Tendulkar's fitness keeping the Master Blaster out of action more often than not, Gambhir and Sehwag, two dynamic batsmen from Delhi have filled up the boots of the most successful opening pair for India in ODI's.

One look at the newest sensation of Indian cricket and avid watchers of the game would realise how uncannily similar Gauti and Viru are to their legendary predessecors. While, Sehwag reminds spectators of Tendulkar's aggression and brutality, Gambhir with his elegant cover drives and appetite for spin bowling throws up shadows of Ganguly.

Of course both the Delhi Daredevils mates have far to go before matching the class Tendulkar and Ganguly exhibited day in and day out but the fact that the Delhi blasters have cruised to 959 runs at an average of 56.41, the second highest after Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja's contribution at 59.77 per innings, whenever they opened together speaks volumes about the kind of impact the Delhites have had on bowlers around the world.

If new ball bowlers the world over breathed a sigh of relief after the Tendulkar- Ganguly enterprise started fading away after some glorious years of damaging firt wicket partnerships, in came Sehwag and Gambhir.

While Tendulkar and Ganguly romped off 6610 runs in 136 innings at an average of 49.33 with 21 century partnerships and 23 fifty run associations, Sehwag and Gambhir have rattled off 959 runs in 17 innings at a staggering average of 56.41 in 17 innings with two century partnerships and six half century stands. That means these two get India off to steady starts every second innings. That explains India's recent spur of success in recent times. That explains India's conquering the ICC T20 World Championships.

Out of the eight times Sehwag and Gambhir have rocketed India off to smoking starts, the team has cruised to victory in six matches, underlining the fact that the two not only get India off to consistent starts but also at stunning pace.

In their last seven outings, Sehwag and Gambhir have recorded two century stands and three eighty-plus in ODIs - 155 against Pakistan at Mirpur on June 10, 2008; 85 against Bangladesh at Mirpur on June 12; 127 against Hong Kong at Karachi on June 25; 88 against Pakistan at Karachi on July 2 and 92 against Sri Lanka at Karachi on Thursday.

All and all, exciting times for Indian cricket. Right from the openers to the middle order of an exceptionally talented batting line up.