Virender Sehwag not just showcased his undoubted talent but also sent records tumbling almost at the same pace at which he scored his runs.
CHENNAI: En route to his unbeaten triple century in the first cricket Test against South Africa here on Friday, Virender Sehwag not just showcased his undoubted talent but also sent records tumbling almost at the same pace at which he scored his runs.
It was his second triple century, following the 309 against Pakistan at Multan in 2004 when he became the only Indian batsman to cross the 300-mark.
So far, Sehwag has scored four double centuries, the same as Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, while Rahul Dravid tops this list with five.
His previous 200-plus scores were: 309 vs Pakistan at Multan (2004); 201 vs Pakistan at Bangalore (2005) and 254 vs Pakistan at Lahore (2006).
It was the 10th time that Sehwag scored more than 150 runs in an innings, behind Tendulkar's 17 and Gavaskar's 12.
Sehwag became the only Indian to score over 100 runs in a session twice, following his 109 between lunch and tea breaks at Lahore against Pakistan (2005-06). Today, he scored 108 between lunch and tea.
Other Indians to perform similar feats were: Md Azharuddin (103, lunch-tea, vs England at Manchester, 1990); VVS Laxman (121, post-tea, vs Australia at Sydney, 1999-2000); Yuvraj Singh (102, post-tea, vs Pakistan at Bangalore, 2006-07).
Sehwag became the highest run-getter in an innings at Chepauk, beating Gavaskar's 236 against the West Indies (1983-84).
He is only the third Indian to score a double century at Chepauk, following Gavaskar's 236 and GR Visvanath's 222 vs England (1981-82).
Sehwag also left Tendulkar (169, Cape Town, 1996-97) in the shade by becoming the highest Indian scorer in an innings against South Africa. In the process,he surpassed his own best of 164 that he compiled in the Kanpur Test (2004-05) and his previous highest at Chepauk was 155 against Australia in 2004-05.
The 213-run partnership for the first wicket with Wasim Jaffer overhauled the previous best of 200 between Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth at Chepauk.
It was the fourth time that Sehwag was involved in a 200-plus partnership.
Sehwag and Jaffer also bettered their previous best partnership of 129 vs West Indies in 2006 and it was the third three-figure stand between the two.
Sehwag's scoring rate:
50 in 59 balls, 95 minutes, 6 x 4, 1 x 6;
100 in 116b, 199mins, 15 x 4, 1 x 6;
150 in 171b, 291mins, 23 x 4, 1 x 6;
200 in 194b, 331mins, 32 x 4, 2 x 6;
250 in 225b, 384mins, 39 x 4, 3 x 6
300 in 278b, 481mins, 42 x 4, 5 x 6.
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