The present work provides an incredible route towards achieving the ideal Li ion battery anode material with high specific capacity and rate capability as a result of unraveling a few upper layers of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as graphene nanoribbons attached to the core MWNT. These partially exfoliated nanotubes when used as an anode material show an 880 mA h g(-1) capacity at a 100 mA g(-1) current density and high rate capability by delivering a stable 157 mA h g(-1) capacity at a current density of 10 A g(-1). The enhanced performance of this anode material can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the homogeneous distribution of the hybrid carbon nanostructure of 1-D multiwalled carbon nanotubes and 2-D graphene nanoribbons. This configuration provides a large available surface area, high electrical conductivity and a high number of defect sites, leading to improved Li intercalation with a better transfer rate compared to only graphene, multiwalled carbon nanotubes or other reported combinations of the two.