Sehwag’s record puts West Indies to the sword

It took India to 418-5 before the West Indies were dismissed for 265.

The opener passed team-mate Sachin Tendulkar’s 200 not out against South Africa in February last year as he put the West Indies to the sword.

The 33-year-old, who was dropped on 170, hammered seven sixes and 25 boundaries in his magnificent 148-ball knock.

Sehwag said: “I never dreamt of it. I told Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) if we showed a little patience we could get a big one. But I was never expecting a double century.

“When I decided I wanted to hit a six, I went and did it with a straight bat.

“When (Darren) Sammy dropped my chance, I knew God was with me.”

Sehwag, whose previous ODI best was 175 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in February, brought up the record in style with his 23rd four of the match.

He was finally dismissed in the 47th over off Kieron Pollard. The double century took him past the 8,000-run mark in ODIs.

England will doubtless feel the need for an extra spin option at their disposal when they set out next month to play Pakistan in the unfamiliar climes of the United Arab Emirates.

It seems opportunity will knock for at least one of three hopefuls when the selectors announce their squad for the three-Test series this morning.

Samit Patel and Scott Borthwick are uncapped, while Monty Panesar has not played for England since his tail-end defiance with the bat helped to salvage a last-ditch draw in Cardiff at the start of the 2009 Ashes series victory.

Panesar lost his central contract at the end of that summer, too. But like 21-year-old leg-spinner Borthwick and his fellow left-arm orthodox Patel – whose strongest suit is his middle-order batting – Panesar turns the ball in the opposite direction to England’s first-choice spinner Graeme Swann. All three are sure to come into prominent consideration for that reason, despite the uncertainties surrounding each.

Borthwick, also a handy batsman, brings risks as well as promise purely on the basis that he is an inexperienced leg-spinner – a tag which screams vulnerability.