Today, Danesh Ramdin played an assured, run-a-ball, personal best ODI innings of 96 as the West Indies compiled a useful total of 265. Unfortunately for them, this was in reply to India's mammoth 418-5, and the Trinidadian's efforts were obliterated by the phenomenon that was Virender Sehwag's 219, easily surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's previous world record set last year.
Sehwag's ability to strike a ball is well known but he doesn't often convert early blitzes into big innings. The World Cup opener was one of those and now the West Indies were on the receiving end of the greatest of them all at Indore. It wasn't just a T20-style slogfest either. Sure, he swung the bat for some mighty straight sixes but there were some brilliant flicks and audaciously delicate 'upper cuts' to the boundary, too. He survived a couple of run-out attempts and a dropped catch but even Darren Sammy had to applaud a marvellous performance which his batsmen never stood an earthly of matching.
It took 2,962 ODIs before Tendulkar became the first man to hit a double and at one stage it looked as if it would take only another 261 before the 250 barrier was breached. However, it took a rare mistimed slog off the innocuous medium pace of Kieron Pollard to dismiss him.
So where does this innings ran alongside the best of one-day innings? Well, undoubtdly a million miles ahead of the very first ODI century, compiled by Dennis Amiss back in 1972. Kapil Dev's 175 not out blitz against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup was a real eye-opener, especially as he came in at number six with his side reeling at 9 for 4! However, the first truly special innings against a top team came from the majestic Viv Richards. At Old Trafford in 1984 he plundered an unbeaten 189, a record which lasted 13 years before being eclipsed by Saeed Anwar's 194 for Pakistan against India at Chennai.
Two years later, Saurav Ganguly's 183 may not have broken a record but, in tandem with Rahul Dravid he broke Sri Lanka's hearts and possibly some bones and windows around Taunton in the World Cup. That was wonderful to watch. Anyway, Anwar's record stood for another 13 years and, incredibly, 1,753 matches before then 36 year-old Tendulkar notched another cricketing milestone by becoming the first to reach 200 in a single innings, this time against South Africa at Gwalior, just a few hundred miles NE of the location of today's innings.
Apart from Viv Richards' demolition of England and confirmation of his status as the finest one-day batsman of his era, I suppose the only other innings which would compete with Sehwag's knock is Shane Watson's World Cup tour de force against Bangladesh in April. 185 not out in 96 balls, including 15 sixes. That was probably the greatest sustained display of big hitting ever seen in a one-day international, but for majestic strokeplay combined with clever gap-finding, the humble Virender's double-century will take some beating.
