This day in 2010, Sachin scored the first ODI double-ton
Eight years ago, on this day, Sachin Tendulkar became the first male cricketer to score a double hundred in ODIs. He achieved this feat against South Africa in Gwalior, guiding India to a series victory against the Proteas, with a game to spare. The previous highest before his historic double ton was 194, by Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar. Here's more.
The day it happened
On 24 Feb 2010, playing in Gwalior against South Africa, Sachin scored his first ODI double century, 200 off 147 balls, which included 25 fours and 3 sixes. The then 36-year-old carried his bat through the 50 overs, helping India amass a total of 401/3. Sachin's previous best, before this, was an unbeaten 186 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in November 1999.
Sachin dedicates double ton to the "people of India"
"I would like to dedicate this double hundred to the people of India who have stood by me no matter what for the last 20 years. There have been ups and downs, but they have supported me." - Sachin Tendulkar, 24 February 2010.
The century man
The double ton in Gwalior brought up 46 ODI centuries for Sachin, who in his ODI career has a total of 49 hundreds, the most by any player. With 51 tons, he also holds the most Test hundreds records. The master blaster, who retired in 2013, is also the leading run scorer in both ODIs (18,426) and Tests (15,921).
Only four others managed to achieve this after Sachin
After Sachin, only four other cricketers have managed to score ODI double tons. This includes Rohit Sharma's three double centuries, and double tons by Martin Guptill, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. Interestingly, Gayle scored his 200 on the same day as Sachin but in 2015.
