Dubai: Virender Sehwag proved himself to be the most destructive batsman in world cricket yesterday by smashing the West Indies bowling attack to smithereens.
Sehwag blasted his way into the record books with a whirlwind 219 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore to register the highest individual score in One Day International.
Sehwag raced past his idol and hero Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 against South Africa at Gwalior last year to become only the second batsman to hit a double-century in one-day cricket.
Viru, as he is affectionately called by his fans, proved once again that on his day all records are in danger of being broken.
Greatest of them all
The ease with which he hits fours and sixes has earned him comparison with West Indies legend Viv Richards — perhaps the greatest demolisher of a bowling attack.
In an interview with Gulf News, Brian Lara, who holds the record for the highest score in Test cricket, once said: "If there is one batsman who can break all records for the highest score, it will be Sehwag. He makes scoring runs looks so easy."
At Indore, the maverick Sehwag scored 219 in just 149 balls with 25 fours and seven sixes.
In the end his effort was more than enough as India beat West Indies by 153 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Sehwag is like a man possessed once he gets going. He is daring and backs his shots with power and timing. Some of his shots have made coaches re-write their manuals. Once while talking to Gulf News about the secret behind his ability to hit hard, Sehwag said: "I have no secrets. If a ball is there to be hit, I will hit it. I hate to leave loose balls unpunished."
Sehwag can even hit the good ball for a four or a six, and that is attributed more to his ability to see it early than his footwork.
No batsman had scored a double-century in One Day Internationals for 40 years until Tendulkar did it last year. Thanks to Sehwag, this record stood for less than two years.
In the process, Sehwag helped India post their highest one-day score of 418 for five, although Sri Lanka still sit on top with the 443 for nine they scored against the Netherlands in 2006.
Scoreboard
India:
- G. Gambhir run out 67
- V. Sehwag c sub (Martin) b Pollard 219
- S. Raina run out 55
- R. Jadeja c Rampaul b Russell 10
- Rohit Sharma b Roach 27
- V. Kohli not out 23
- P. Patel not out 3
Extras: (lb1, w13) 14
Total (for five wickets, 50 overs) 418
Fall of wickets: 1-176 (Gambhir), 2-316 (Raina), 3-341 (Jadeja), 4-376 (Sehwag), 5-393 (Rohit Sharma).
Bowling: Roach 10-0-88-1, Rampaul 9-0-66-0 (w6), Russell 7-0-63-1 (w2), Narine 6-0-46-0 (w2), Sammy 3-0-30-0 (w1), Pollard 7-0-65-1 (w2), Samuels 8-0-59-0
West Indies:
- L. Simmons c Patel b Jadeja 36
- K. Powell run out 7
- M. Samuels b Rahul Sharma 33
- D. Hyatt b Rahul Sharma 11
- D. Ramdin c Rohit Sharma b Raina 96
- K. Pollard b Rahul Sharma 3
- A. Russell st Patel b Raina 29
- D. Sammy c Mithun b Ashwin 2
- R. Rampaul c sub (Tiwary) b Jadeja 10
- K. Roach c and b Jadeja 7
- S. Narine not out 27
Extras: (lb2, w2) 4
Total (all out, 49.2 overs) 265
Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Powell), 2-63 (Simmons), 3-81 (Samuels), 4-90 (Hyatt), 5-100 (Pollard), 6-140 (Russell), 7-145 (Sammy), 8-168 (Rampaul), 9-201 (Roach), 10-265 (Ramdin).
Bowling: Vinay 4-0-34-0, Ashwin 10-0-59-1 (w1), Jadeja 10-2-34-3, Mithun 4-0-37-0 (w1), Rahul Sharma 10-0-43-3, Raina 6.2-0-17-2, Rohit Sharma 5-0-39-0
India won by 153 runs
Records
Highest individual scores in ODIs
219 - Virender Sehwag, India v West Indies (Indore) 2011/12
200* - Sachin Tendulkar, India v South Africa (Gwalior) 2010
194* - Charles Coventry, Zimbabwe v Bangladesh (Bulawayo) 2009
194 - Saeed Anwar, Pakistan v India (Chennai) 1997
189* - Viv Richards, West Indies v England (Old Trafford) 1984
189 - Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka v India (Sharjah) 2000
Highest scores in limited-over matches
268 - AD Brown, Surrey v Glamorgan (The Oval) 2002
222* - RG Pollock, Eastern Province v Border (East London) 1974/75
219 - Virender Sehwag, India v West Indies (Indore) 2011/12
207 - Mohammad Ali, Pakistan Customs v Defence Housing Authority (Sialkot) 2004/05
206 - AI Kallicharran, Warwickshire v Oxfordshire (Birmingham) 1984.
— Compiled by Mohan Menon
