Manchester: Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul gave Team India a flying start in Men-in-Blue's marquee World Cup clash against arch-rival Pakistan, here, on Sunday at the Trafford. The duo added 136 runs for the first wicket before Pakistan seamer Wahab Riaz got the better of Rahul.
Rahul, who was promoted as an opener in place of injured Shikhar Dhawan scored 57 runs off 78 balls. His knock was laced with three fours and two sixes.
With their 136-run stand, Rahul and Rohit became the first Indian openers to snitched a 100-run stand against Pakistan in the World Cup and in the process broke a 23-year-old record set by Sachin Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Tendulkar and Sidhu had added 90-run stand for opening wicket against Pakistan during the 1996 World cup. The match was played in Bengaluru and India went on to win the match by 37 runs.
Rohit and Rahul also became the 4th pair to put up a 100-run stand against Pakistan in the World Cup. During the 2003 WC, Tendulkar and Mohammad Kaif became the first pair to snitched 100 run partnership against the neighbouring nation. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli and Kohli-Suresh Raina were the second and third duo to put up a hundred run stand in the 2015 World Cup match vs Pakistan.
