200

The summit has been scaled, mission accomplished, the barrier has been breached, the unthinkable has been thought of and actually done, yes 200 runs have been scored in a one day international by a single batsman. And who else would have deserved it more than Sachin. A classic innings to watch, I have watched the downloaded version a few times now. It felt like watching Sachin in his so called peak period in the late nineties or so we thought. There are a gazillion praises being showered on the little master. And deservedly so. What a treat it must have been to watch this innings in person. Really a true classic, a magnanimous display of skill and aggression and that too against a pretty good bowling attack.

What makes any innings great? Yes it was not under immense pressure or anything but then we probably would not have seen the kind of aggression in his batting that we have failed to see in the past few years. The looks on the bowlers faces said it all. A lot of people have said that Sachin knows the next ball the bowler is trying to bowl and you could actually see the amount of time he had before playing each shot. As Chatur in 3 idiots would have told you an innings is "a numbered round of play in which both teams have a turn at bat" or "the period of or opportunity for action, expression, exercise of authority, etc." the latter so fitting to what the display was as it embodied each and every word in that definition. So what can top this? I asked the same question when 2 thunderous innings were played in succession amidst the desert storm. But I guess there will always be a way to top this, to break this record, which I am sure Mr. Ponting will be eying for too.