The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) is all set to get underway on March 28. Ahead of the new season getting underway, former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis ranked some of the best opening pairs in IPL history that have caught everyone’s attention.
Faf du Plessis made some surprising picks as he picked eight famous IPL opening partnerships. However, several legendary pairs were picked by the Proteas star, but it was the order that stunned many as they were placed lower than expected.
Virat Kohli–Chris Gayle duo placed at No.3 by Faf du Plessis
The former RCB captain has picked the famous pair of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle. The two RCB stars formed one of the most dangerous opening combinations in IPL history. They scored more than 1200 runs together and produced several big partnerships, including four century stands.
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Their powerful batting often destroyed bowling attacks. However, Du Plessis placed the Kohli-Gayle pair at number three in his viral blind ranking. Interestingly, the former South African captain’s own opening partnership with Kohli was placed at number five.
The two had a brilliant season together in 2023 when they scored a record 939 runs as an opening pair. It was the highest total by any opening duo in a single IPL season. Overall, they added nearly 1900 runs while opening the innings together for the RCB.
Vijay–Hussey take fourth spot
The Proteas star picked the former CSK openers Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey at No. 4. They scored 1,360 runs at an average of over 41 while opening for the five-time champions.
Faf du Plessis ranked his CSK partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad at the seventh spot. The pair played an important role in CSK’s title-winning campaign in 2021. He picked another exciting modern pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), putting then at the No.6.
Faf knows a thing or two about IPL openers 😏 pic.twitter.com/6ixxQTtOJc
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 16, 2026
Their fearless batting helped SRH reach the IPL final in 2024, and they have already scored more than 1100 runs together as an opening pair for the franchise. But the biggest surprise came when he picked David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan at number eight.
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Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa get the top spot in Faf du Plessis’ blind ranking
It was a surprising call as Warner and Dhawan are the only opening pair in IPL history to score more than 2000 runs together. Faf du Plessis picked the Mumbai Indians duo of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan at the number two, with the top spot going to Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa.
Their solid opening stands played a huge role in the success of the Kolkata Knight Riders during their title-winning seasons. They scored 1478 runs in 39 innings in the tournament.
Notably, He will miss the upcoming season as he is set to play in the Pakistan Super League 2026 (PSL 2026). He is one of the highest run-scoring foreign players in IPL history with 4,773 runs in 154 matches.