Charl Langeveldt ran in with the ball, it was a full ball wide on off stump, Sachin Tendulkar tapped it towards point, he called MS Dhoni through for a quick single even as AB de Villiers collected the ball at point. Sachin completed the run, looked back, the crowd erupted, Ravi Shastri thundered in the commentary box: “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.”
24 February, 2010 became a historical day for cricket - Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score 200 runs in ODIs. He achieved the feat against South Africa at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior.
During the innings, he smashed 25 fours and three sixes and stayed unbeaten for the entire course of the match. Powered by MS Dhoni’s heroics in the death overs, India posted 401 runs on the board and South Africa were bowled out for 248.
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“I don’t know how to react to this.I would like to dedicate this to the people of India who have always stood behind me for these 20 years amid the ups and downs. I was striking the ball and timing the ball well, it was coming on to the bat nicely. Yusuf came and changed the momentum and MS really struck the ball well; it was due to their big hitting that we were able to put up such a big score. It was only when I got closer to the score that I realised that I had an opportunity and I could take the singles to give MS the strike,” Tendulkar said after the match.
“I’ve always played the way I felt was the right way to play, always done what I felt was good for the team. There have been times when I’ve made some bad decisions as a batsman, but as long as in my heart I know that whatever I’m doing for the team at that moment, I’m going to go ahead with that. It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I’d like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn’t drop,” he went on to add.
{{/usCountry}}“I’ve always played the way I felt was the right way to play, always done what I felt was good for the team. There have been times when I’ve made some bad decisions as a batsman, but as long as in my heart I know that whatever I’m doing for the team at that moment, I’m going to go ahead with that. It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I’d like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn’t drop,” he went on to add.
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