Are Jason Roy-Jonny Bairstow Best ODI Openers Of All Time?

The England openers - Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy -  in the 1st ODI against India shared a 135 run stand in just 14 overs. They both looked comfortable in approaching the innings with attacking intent from the first ball itself. 

However, this isn't the first time they have played like this in ODIs. Bairstow and Roy have been opening the innings for England since 2017 and have scored 2539 runs together. One of the things about their partnership is their aggressive approach. 

Their attacking intent shows the new English way and the reason why England has been one of the most successful teams in the limited-overs format in recent times. Bairstow and Roy while averaging 60.45 per dismissal have a run-rate of 7.04. 

7.04 is the all-time highest run-rate for opening pair in ODIs with a minimum of 1000 runs together. The next best rate is between Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum - 6.59, who have scored 1904 runs together in 47 innings. Even if list out the partners with more than 500 plus runs together, the Bairstow-Roy pair comes second in the list. The first is between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 627 runs together with a run-rate of 7.05 in 18 innings. 

 

Considering the number of runs they scored in the last five years, the English pair is the second-best with 2539 runs; the first being Aaron Finch and David Warner with 2660 runs. After Roy-Bairstow, the next best opening pair is Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma with 2416 runs. 

However, the Australian pair score runs at a rate of 5.84 with an average of 59.11 while the Indian openers score at 5.36 with an average of 44.74. 

Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, despite scoring runs at such a fast rate, have an average of 60.45, which is the 2nd best in the last five years. Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane average 64.05 in the 18 innings they have opened, at a run-rate of 5.41. 

Jason Roy since 2017, has scored 2420 runs while opening the batting with an average of 40.10 and a strike rate of 108.47. Jonny Bairstow, too, has been scoring runs with a strike rate of just less than 109 while averaging 51.03 while opening the innings. He has scored 2654 runs in this position. 

The ODI format has seen some great opening pairs from its inception. Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy in such a short period have placed their names in the all-time best opening pairs. They are already the best all-time pair in England and at this rate, they can surely climb to the top of the world.