New Delhi, Mar 28 (IANS): Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the two Indian greats, are counted among one of the most destructive pairs to have played the game of cricket, especially ODIs in which the record of the duo is exemplary.

In 136 ODI matches the duo opened the batting, they scored 6,609 runs at an average of over 48, including 21 hundred-plus partnerships and 23 fifty-plus. However, their partnership is not limited to their playing days as even now, both share a great bond and are close friends.

However, there's a fact which many people don't know. Tendulkar was at the non-striker's end in both Ganguly's first and last international game.

When Ganguly made his ODI debut against West Indies on June 11, 1992, Tendulkar was standing at the non-striker's end. In that match, Ganguly had come out to bat at No. 6 and scored three runs before he was out.

Similarly, when the Bengal Tiger played his final Test match against Australia in Nagpur in 2008 (November 6-10), Tendulkar was at the crease when Ganguly came to bat in the first innings. Not only that, in the second innings as well, when the left-handed batsman came to the crease and was dismissed Tendulkar was at the non-striker's end.

While Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India in which he scored 7212 and 11363 runs respectively, Tendulkar represented India in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20I in which he amassed 15921, 18426 and 10 runs respectively.