Courtesy: BCCI
On December 8, 2011, Virender Sehwag became the second men’s cricketer to score a double hundred in ODI cricket against West Indies after his Indian teammate Sachin Tendulkar. At the Holkar Stadium in Indore, the Indian opening batter scored 219 runs in just 149 balls against a hapless West Indies bowling attack, hitting 25 fours and seven maximums in his innings, to help the team reach 418/5 in the one day international contest. Notably, Sachin Tendulkar had brought up the first ODI double hundred in men’s cricket against South Africa in February 2010, to achieve yet another milestone in his illustrious cricketing career.
After winning the toss, Virender Sehwag, who was captaining the Indian cricket team in the absence of MS Dhoni, decided to bat first against West Indies in Indore. Within just 23 overs of the Indian batting innings, he and Gautam Gambhir, who scored 67 runs in 67 balls, stitched together an opening stand of 176 runs, to put the hosts in a strong position. For the second wicket, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina built a partnership of 150 runs, giving India a perfect platform to get up to a total in excess of 400 runs in the final 10 overs.
Below are the number of double hundreds from Indian players in ODI cricket:
In the 44th over of the Indian innings, Virender Sehwag, who had demolished the challenge of the West Indies bowling lineup, reached the 200-run milestone after hitting Andre Russell for a boundary. He was finally dismissed for 219 runs by Kieron Pollard while trying to hit a maximum over the long-on region, only to find the substitute fielder there. The quick-fire 20s from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ensured that India reached a mammoth total of 418/5 in their allotted 50 overs.
The run chase of West Indies never got out of first gear, struggling against the Indian spin bowlers, including the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Sharma, who picked up three wickets each, while Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin chipped-in as well. The top scorer for West Indies on the night was Denesh Ramdin, who scored 96 runs in 96 balls with 12 fours. Although his contribution was far from enough as India bowled out the visitors for just 265 runs in 49.2 overs, to win the match by 153 runs.
