Tendulkar to Gayle, Feb 24 has a special place in cricketing history
There are a few dates that go down in history and February 24 is one such occasion. Exactly eight years back, Sachin Tendulkar had scored the first double hundred in the limited-overs format, slamming a 147-ball 200 laced with 25 boundaries and three sixes.
Playing against South Africa in Gwalior, India were off to a poor start as they lost Virender Sehwag early. However, with Dinesh Karthik (85-ball 79) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (35-ball 68) scoring half-centuries, Tendulkar took charge at the other end and smashed the likes of Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell to all corners of the park.
He reached his 46th ODI ton in stellar fashion and took a single to become the first cricketer in history to score a double hundred. Riding on his double-ton, India posed a 402-run target, which the Proteas failed achieve. AB de Villiers was the
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lone warrior with an unbeaten 114 but with India picking wickets at regular intervals, the South African ran out of partners.
The day is also special for Tendulkar as 30 years back, in 1988, he and Vinod Kambli had scored a staggering unbeaten partnership of 664 runs in a Harris Shield match while playing for Shardasram Vidyamandir against St Xavier’s (Fort). While Tendulkar was unbeaten on 326, Kambli fell one short of reaching 350. However, in 2013, it was reported that the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) had incinerated the original score-sheet.
However, not everything special about the day has to do with Tendulkar. The ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle became the only West Indian to score a double hundred in ODIs when he slammed a staggering 147-ball 215 against Zimbabwe in 2015. Laced with 10 fours and 16 sixes, Gayle was the first nonIndian to match the feat after Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma. It was also the first time a batsman had scored a double hundred in a World Cup. Before him, South Africa’s Gary Kirsten held the record — an unbeaten 188 against United Arab Emirates in 1996.