In India’s One Day International against the West Indies, at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, Virender Sehwag went on to score the highest every score in the format, with a blistering 219 off just 149.
It was an innings of sensational ball striking, as shown by the fact he scored 142 of his runs purely from boundaries. The only man to have scored a double century in the One Day International format before Sehwag was one Sachin Tendulkar, so he is in royal company.
The monumental effort of Sehwag’s achievement was recognised and appreciated by every since person within the stadium, with him receiving a standing ovation from the crowd once he was unfortunately run out, as well as having almost every West Indian approach him to congratulate him on such a fantastic effort.
Before the advent of T20 cricket, never before had a double century been registered in ODI cricket. At one point in time, scoring a double century was something that seemed next to impossible, but as the years have progressed, bats have improved, pitches have got more batsman friendly, and the amount of T20 cricket that is now played across the globe all seem to have played deciding factors in increasing the scoring rate within every format of the game.
This should not take away from Sehwag’s achievement, however. Despite the fact this innings did take place against a quite uninspiring West Indies attack, very few batsman in world cricket would have been able to put them to the sword quite like Sehwag did, and with Sehwag seemingly hitting a rich vein of form, the Australians would be right to worry about what he might have planned for their young bowlers.