Double tons are as rare in ODI cricket as are coincidences in life. But one striking similarity between the highest individual ODI scores of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma will leave you awestruck.
Those were three different knocks of 200*, 219 and 264 played by three different Indian batsman in Tendulkar, Sehwag and Rohit respectively, that too against three different opponents – South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively once again. But India’s winning margin during all those matches –153 runs — was strikingly similar.
Call it a coincidence or anything you like, what are the chances of such a thing happening in cricket? Very less, right?! But it happened and that’s why the game never fails to amaze or mesmerize us.
Tendulkar’s knock of 200* was a momentous one as it was the first double century for any batsman in ODI cricket. The master-blaster’s innings had powered India to a mammoth total of 401/3. South Africa in reply could manage only 248 runs as the Indian bowlers’ clinical performance bundled them up. Hence, the winning margin for India turned out to be 153 runs.
The next time, it was Sehwag who plundered 219 runs off just 149 deliveries against West Indies in 2011 at Indore. India reached their highest ODI total of 418/5 riding on Sehwag’s destructive innings. The total once again turned out to be too much for the Caribbean team as India bundled them out for 265 runs. Notice the winning margin here as well? It’s 153 runs once again.
The last but not the least, Rohit’s innings of 264 against Sri Lanka at Kolkata in 2014 is the highest individual score ever recorded in ODIs even now. The Indian opener absolutely tore the Lankan bowling unit apart. India had reached a total of 404/5 as a result of the destruction caused by Rohit but Sri Lanka folded up for 251 runs. Do I need to tell you India’s victory margin here anymore? I don’t think so. You all definitely know it by now!