Sachin Tendulkar was used to breaking records from a very young age, but on this day in 2010, the maestro reached where no man had gone before. Getting a hundred in an ODI was considered a big deal for a long duration in the life of the format – whether played over 60 overs a side or 50. Sunil Gavaskar scored just one in his career, that too in his penultimate game.
Getting a double hundred in 50 overs was considered a fantasy till Tendulkar did it against South Africa in Gwalior in 2010. It came during a purple patch in his career across formats, concluding with his stellar role in the victorious 2011 World Cup campaign on home soil. That it came at the age of 36, off just 147 balls, adds even more lustre to the achievement. The bowlers in the opposition were no slouches either, including the incomparable Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Charl Langeveldt and Jacques Kallis.
Saeed Anwar’s mark of 194, scored against India in Chennai in the 1997 Independence Cup and matched by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry in 2009, finally overhauled.
India had come into the match after edging past the visitors by just a solitary run in Jaipur in the first of three ODIs, Praveen Kumar preventing the visitors from getting the 10 runs needed for victory in the final over. Tendulkar made just four before being run out, but he more than made up three days later at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium.
MS Dhoni won the toss and after the early loss of Virender Sehwag, Tendulkar added 194 runs with Dinesh Karthik in less than 30 overs, the latter’s contribution being 79 off 85 deliveries. Yusuf Pathan was sent up the order and it was at this stage that the foot well and truly hit the accelerator. The stand brought 81 in less than eight overs before Dhoni stepped out to give the innings further impetus.
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Tendulkar was scoring at a robust pace throughout his knock and reached 191 in the 45th over. His personal score could have been anything by the end of the innings had it not been for him facing only nine of the last 30 balls, as Dhoni took most of the strike and smashed an unbeaten 68 off 35 balls.
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his double century in the second one-day international against South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010. (Express file photo by Punit Paranjpe)
Milestone reached
The momentous occasion had to wait till the third ball of the 50th over when Tendulkar steered Steyn to the sweeper on the off-side for the single needed to get to 200, before taking off his helmet and taking in the crowd’s adulation. The first 100 came off 90 balls while the second took only 57.
Steyn had a humbling day, returning wicketless and conceding 89 runs in his 10 overs. Parnell’s two scalps cost him 95. The best South African bowler on show was left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe, who later represented the Netherlands, conceding ‘only’ 62 in his full quota and taking Pathan’s wicket.
I bow down to the greatest player of all time sachin tendulkar. we all salute you
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 25, 2010
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India finished on 401/3 in 50 overs, a score well beyond the Proteas’ reach on the day, despite AB de Villiers hitting an unbeaten 114 off 101 balls. South Africa were bowled out for 248 in 42.5 overs as the home team sealed the series with a 153-run win.
Tendulkar’s feat was of such magnitude that it took even the man himself by surprise. “I don’t know how to react to this,” he said at the post-match presentation.
Incidentally, on the same date five years later, Chris Gayle became the first batsman to hit a double ton in the ODI World Cup when he smashed 215 in Canberra. In fact, Tendulkar’s landmark innings broke a longstanding barrier as there have been 11 other scores of 200 or more since, including three by Rohit Sharma. The latter also holds the record for the highest individual score in the format – 264 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata in 2014.
But the Little Maestro will always be the first to climb Mount 200.
