Mankad and Roy's 413 — World Record Opening Stand, Madras 1956

Mankad had originally batted in the middle order but, by 1956, had moved up to open partly because the Indian top-order was thin. Roy, who had endured a torrid 1952 tour of England (five ducks in a series), had rebuilt his game and was a steady opening bat.

After four drawn matches against New Zealand, India were under pressure to win the series. Hazare won the toss, chose to bat first, and the pair walked out at the 11.00am start.

New Zealand were playing their first Test tour of India under captain Harry Cave. After four matches in which India had largely dominated but failed to convert positions into wins, the fifth Test at Madras presented a final opportunity. India's openers, both right-handers from very different backgrounds — Mankad the Gujarati left-arm spinner who had reluctantly come back to opening, Roy the dapper Bengali — walked out together knowing each other's game intimately.

Mankad set off in his usual unhurried manner; Roy played the role of senior partner only after he had survived the early seam of John Hayes and Anthony MacGibbon. The pair batted through the entire first day, all of the second, and into the third. By the close of day two India were 397 for 0. Roy was finally bowled by Matt Poore for 173 after 472 minutes; the partnership was 413, beating the previous opening record of 382 by Bill Ponsford and Bill Woodfull at The Oval in 1934.

Mankad was eventually out for 231, then the highest score by an Indian batter in Tests. Polly Umrigar added 79 not out and Hazare declared at 537 for 3. New Zealand replied with 209 and 219, with Subhash Gupte and Mankad doing the bowling damage. India won by an innings and 109 runs, their second Test victory after Madras 1952 and their first home series win.

“We just kept batting; there seemed no reason to stop.”

“It was the longest opening partnership I had ever seen at any level.”

Mankad's 231 stood as India's highest Test individual score until Sunil Gavaskar's 236 in 1983. The opening partnership of 413 stood as a Test record for any wicket and any opening combination until February 2008, when Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie added 415 for South Africa against Bangladesh.

India won the series 2-0. Both Mankad and Roy were celebrated; Roy in particular finally laid to rest the ghost of the 1952 ducks.