By IANS,
New Delhi : Cricket fraternity and fans hailed India’s explosive opener Virender Sehwag’s sensational 219, the highest by any player in One-day internationals.
Congratulatory messages poured in from all quarters as the cricket-crazy country watched the swashbuckling opener create history in the fourth ODI against West Indies at Indore Thursday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly called Sehwag a ‘gambler’ who is not afraid of taking risk.
“This is a great achievement and I congratulate Sehwag for the amazing feat. He has captained the Indian side on and off for a short while and I believe he could make up as a good captain. He is a gambler, a player who loves to take risks. If he keeps getting opportunity as a captain, he will come up with many such milestones,” said Ganguly.
“The double hundred will be a big morale booster for him with the tough Australian tour lined up. You will find the bowling attack, conditions different Down Under. This double ton will give him a big confidence for sure ahead of the Australia tour.”
Chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth said Sehwag is one of the greatest players the game has seen.
“He missed his double century (175) during the World Cup game against Bangladesh at Mirpur. But today he has achieved the feat which I would like to describe as incredible,” said Srikkanth.
Srikkanth also said that this innings will do him a world of good for the upcoming Australia tour.
“He is an amazing player and it’s very important that Sehwag touches the peak form by the time India leave for Australia.
“The greatest thing about Sehwag is that he is an honest person. He was blaming the openers for not getting enough runs on the board during this ongoing series. The top-order included himself also and he did not mince words before criticising himself. So he is a very straight-forward kind of a person.”
Sehwag’s childhood coach AN Sharma said a double ton in ODIs was long overdue.
“I always used to tell him whenever he stepped on the field that this time you have to score a double hundred. It was very satisfying finally watching Viru score 200 runs with such strokeful display. He has always played attacking game and that helped him achieve the milestone.
“I hope Viru will be back to his usual self after this inning. My congratulation to him,” said Sharma.
Teammate Zaheer Khan wrote on twitter “Cheers! congratulations!! way to go buddy!”
West Indies opener Chris Gayle also wrote: “Well, I did watch some of that innings by Viru. Brilliant striking!! Congrats on ur 219.”