Saeed Anwar stopped six short 13 years ago. Charles Coventry didn’t seem worthy enough. Tendulkar was robbed of it twice last year itself. Finally, the elusive double century is for the master batsman to have, as he lashed South Africa to all parts of the Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on Wednesday.
Tendulkar’s 46th one-day hundred was converted into a double with 25 fours and three sixes, the boundaries alone making up more than a century in his mammoth yet destructive 140-ball effort.
For the Indian batting genius with over 20 years in international cricket, records have fallen by the wayside ever since he took on opening in one-day cricket as Test records continued to break.
For the batsman with most runs in Test and ODI cricket, nearly most caps in both forms of the game as well and countless other records, further individual records had thus fvar eluded him. Brian Lara still boasts of the Test equivalent, but in the ODI arena, there’s no better bat than Sachin Tendulkar to score a rare double. He did so into his 21st year in international cricket.
Tendulkar’s 175 at Hyderabad last year against Australia could well be his greatest innings ever, but sometimes the greatest knocks don’t give the most satisfaction, as India lost a close game and then the series.
His double century might not have been the most attractive on what evidently was a batting paradise, but the runs were still there for the making and the champion batsman answered with one of the most clinical assaults in one-day cricket. One-day cricket has not seen its last days just yet. But if it has or is nearing to it, Tendulkar’s records are almost certain to be never eclipsed.
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