Virender Sehwag's 12th Test hundred rewrote several batting records while putting India in a commanding position on the first day of the second cricket Test against West Indies at St Lucia.
Sehwag's century off 78 balls is the third fastest by an Indian in Test cricket and the quickest in an away match.
Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have 74-ball hundreds to their credit. Kapil achieved the feat against Sri Lanka at Kanpur in 1986-87 while Azharuddin did it against South Africa at Calcutta in 1996-97.
Saturday's innings was Sehwag's highest against West Indies, surpassing his 147 in Mumbai in October, 2002. It was the Delhi batsman's second hundred against the men from the Caribbean.
Sehwag's innings is the highest by a visiting batsman at this venue, surpassing Sri Lankan Marvan Atapattu's 118 in 2003. His 180 off 190 balls is now the second highest at St Lucia, next only to Brian Lara's 209 against Sri Lanka in 2003.
The opener's half-century off 33 balls is the fastest by any batsman against West Indies.
{{/usCountry}}The opener's half-century off 33 balls is the fastest by any batsman against West Indies.
{{/usCountry}}Sehwag, with 99 off 75 balls before lunch, narrowly missed becoming the first Indian and the fifth batsman overall to post a hundred before lunch on the first day of a Test match. He would have joined the list that includes the legendary Don Bradman who achieved the rare feat against England at Leeds in 1930.
The others to have done so are Australians Victor Trumper and CG Macartney and Majid Khan of Pakistan.