Sports world raises a toast to 'Swashbuckler Sehwag'

[1]

Virender Sehwag's awe-inspiring double hundred, only the second in ODI history, continued to fetch him effusive praise with cricketers, athletes from other sports and international media bowing in admiration to his epic knock.

Sehwag smashed 219 off 149 deliveries in the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies on Friday in Indore, overtaking his idol Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 to become the highest individual scorer in an ODI.

“Happy it’s Viru”

Leading the praise was Tendulkar himself, who said he was happy that a fellow countryman had broken the record created by him. "I am very happy for Viru and also happy about the fact that someone who has broken my record is my teammate and an Indian. Well done Viru," the veteran right-hander, who is in Melbourne right now, said in an SMS.

The knock also created ripples far away in Australia, a country which India tours next for a Test series. Staying up to catch Sehwag's brutality was Aussie swashbuckler David Warner and he claimed the 33-year-old left him amazed. "Wow, Test match tomorrow but am still up watching Virender Sehwag score, hopefully, 200. Unreal, and he does [get the] highest ever. Well done mate," Warner tweeted referring to the second Test against New Zealand on Friday.

Congratulating the marauding opener

Sehwag's Indian colleagues were expectedly in awe with players such as Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay congratulating the marauding opener. "It's a great effort. Once he got a triple hundred (in Tests) it was just a matter of time for him to bring up this one. I am a big fan of him. The fact that he can even dispatch good balls to boundaries makes him so different," Karthik said.

Vijay said: "I was just watching it. I am so happy for him. It's unbelievable. He is such a great batsman. He batted like himself."

Former chief selector, Kiran More described Sehwag as one of the greatest cricketers India had ever produced. "One of the greatest cricketers India ever had. He is one of the biggest destroyers of spin bowling. Be it Test, one-day or T20, he bats with equal flair. If you see the records, Indian Test cricket have improved tremendously in last 10 years and Viru is a key factor.”

"The results are showing. He will be a vital cog in the Indian wheel in their upcoming tour Down Under. He has done well in difficult conditions and on various types of pitches. We can't compare Sachin with Sehwag. When he came, he tried to copy Sachin. But Sehwag has played very freely since then," More said.

From tennis court

Sehwag had athletes from other sports also glued to the TV sets and among them were Indian tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza who were effusive in congratulating Sehwag.

"Holy cow is all I am gonna say about that innings. Amazing stuff by Viru. As Johnny Mac would say "you can't be serious," said Bhupathi.

"What an achievement. What a player. Hats off to Sehwag," added Mirza.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar said: "Congrats Viru for that incredible 219 which was an epic inning! What timing and energy, indeed SehWhacked. Respect."