Master Blaster Sachin: The First Double Centurion

(Sachin Tendulkar celebrating his 200 runs milestone against South Africa)

February 24, 2010, the date that has been etched in the hearts of every Cricket fan as on this day, the Superman from India, Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer ever to score a double century in the ODI Format. For the first time in the history of the ODI Format, the 200 runs barrier was breached by an individual and it was done by the man who has ruled the cricket for almost 24 years. The next day's newspapers were filled with exciting headlines, all focused on Sachin Tendulkar making history in cricket once more by scoring a double century. Out of all his records, the Double Hundred will remain one of the most special moments for fans worldwide.

India vs South Africa 2nd ODI

After winning the first match of the series by just 1 run at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, the series shifted to the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior where both the teams were scheduled to play the 2nd ODI against each other. Little did the 45,000-strong crowd realize, as they filled the seats with anticipation, that they were about to witness a historic moment unfolding right before their eyes. MS Dhoni representing India won the toss and elected to bat first on the beautiful surface of the Gwalior stadium and the two dashing openers of the Indian team, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar came out to bat.

Sachin Tendulkar started his regular show of showing his class to the audience with his cover drives, straight drives, and some beautiful cut shots. However, Virender Sehwag was dismissed early, leading to the arrival of Dinesh Karthik at the crease who handled the situation well along with the master blaster. With bowling guns such as Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Jacques Kallis, and others, it was going to take a lot of work for the batters, but Sachin Tendulkar was determined to make it a complete package for the viewers.

In just 89 balls, Sachin Tendulkar completed his century and celebrated the milestone by taking off his helmet and thanking God. However, the innings continued and with so much time left in the innings, Sachin decided to speed up the ante. The flurry of sixes and fours started coming up while on the other side, Dinesh Karthik too managed to get up the boundaries. In the 34th over, Dinesh Karthik was dismissed and hence the partnership of 194 runs ended. Then came out Yusuf Pathan who managed quickfire 36 runs in just 23 balls.

Once Yusuf Pathan was dismissed, the scoreline was 300-3 in 41.4 overs and India needed a fiery finish to their innings hence Captain Cool took the matter into his own hands along with the Master Blaster. MS Dhoni took on Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn to get a big score for the Indian team and with 5 overs left, Sachin Tendulkar was just 9 runs away from getting his name in one of the biggest records in the ODI History at that time.

India vs South Africa 2nd ODI
India	South Africa
401/3 (50 Overs)	248 (42.5 overs)
Sachin Tendulkar	AB de Villiers 114(101)
Wayne Parnell 2/95	S Sreesanth 3/49
India won by 153 runs

Moment when Sachin Tendulkar reached the 200 mark

As the innings were reaching its last stage, MS Dhoni was looking set for the big hits and he started justifying the tag of finisher given to him. Out of the last 30 balls, he played most of the balls and was able to hit 7 fours and 4 sixes managing a total of 68 runs of the 35 balls and having a strike rate of 194.29. But the whole world was waiting for Sachin Tendulkar to reach the landmark. In the last over of the innings, Sachin was at 199 runs and was just 1 shot away to get the first double-hundred in ODIs.

(The shot with which Sachin Tendulkar reached the 200-run mark)

The first ball of the last over bowled by Charl Langeveldt was smashed for a six by MS Dhoni and then he took a single on the next ball to allow Sachin Tendulkar to take the strike. On the 3rd ball of the innings, Sachin steered the shot behind the point to complete a single and hence became the first man ever to breach that 200-run mark in an ODI innings. At that time, Ravi Shastri was the commentator and his words was “Gets it. The first man on the planet to reach 200 and it’s the superman from India - Sachin Tendulkar 200 from 147. Take a bow master.”. Sachin took off his helmet and again thanked God along with his father for the milestone that he achieved. India finished with a massive score of 401 in their 50 overs against South Africa.

South Africa collapsed in the 2nd Innings

While chasing a mammoth total of 401 runs in the 2nd innings at the Gwalior pitch, it was never going to be an easy task for the batters of South Africa and hence they succumbed to the pressure. Hashim Amla and Herschelle Gibbs failed to give a proper start to the team. Along with them, Roelof van der Merwe and Jacques Kallis too failed, leaving the team at 83-4 in just 10.2 overs. After that AB de Villiers joined the crease and was the lone warrior who fought for the team.

He managed to hit 114 runs of the 101 balls faced while all the other batters managed just 117 runs along with 17 extras. South Africa was bundled out for just 248 runs in 42.5 overs and hence India claimed the series 2-0 with one match still left. For the match, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Man of the Match for his amazing innings of 200* in just 147 balls played.

Members of the Double Century Club in ODI Format

Following Sachin Tendulkar's entry into the double century club, his achievement served as a source of inspiration for fellow batters, motivating them to surpass this impressive score. Since then a total of 12 Double-Centuries have been made with Rohit Sharma having a total of three 200+ scores to his name while the others have just 1 with them. Below, we have listed all the double-centuries that have taken place in the ODI format.

Player	Opponent	Runs (balls)	4s	6s	S.R.	Venue	Date
Rohit Sharma (IND)	Sri Lanka	264(173)	33	9	152.60	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	Nov 13, 2014
Martin Guptill (NZ)	West Indies	237*(163)	24	11	145.39	Sky Stadium, Wellington	Mar 21, 2015
Virender Sehwag (IND)	West Indies	219(149)	25	7	146.97	Holkar Stadium, Indore	Dec 8, 2011
Chris Gayle (WI)	Zimbabwe	215(147)	10	16	146.25	Manuka Oval, Canberra	Feb 24, 2015
Pathum Nissanka (SL)	Afghanistan	210*(139)	20	8	151.07	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele	Feb 9, 2024
Fakhar Zaman (PAK)	Zimbabwe	210*(156)	24	5	134.61	Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo	July 20, 2018
Ishan Kishan (IND)	Bangladesh	210(131)	24	10	160.30	Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram	Dec 10, 2022
Rohit Sharma (IND)	Australia	209(158)	12	16	132.27	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	Nov 2, 2013
Rohit Sharma (IND)	Sri Lanka	208*(153)	13	12	135.94	PCA Stadium, Mohali	Dec 13, 2017
Shubman Gill (IND)	New Zealand	208(149)	19	9	139.59	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad	Jan 18, 2023
Glenn Maxwell (AUS)	Afghanistan	201*(128)	21	10	157.03	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	Nov 7, 2023
Sachin Tendulkar (IND)	South Africa	200*(147)	25	3	136.05	Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior	Feb 24, 2010