Mumbai, December 03: Dashing opener Virender Sehwag today became the third fastest Indian to score 6000 Test runs after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, during his unbeaten 284 run knock on the second day of the third and final match against Sri Lanka here.
Sehwag, who needed 45 runs going into today’s match to reach 6000, took 123 innings to reach the milestone while Tendulkar and Gavaskar did the same in 120 and 117 innings respectively.
True to his dashing batsmanship, the Delhi batsman reached the milestone by hoisting Sri Lankan Rangana Herath for a straight six over long off.
Sehwag also became the eighth Indian to cross the 6000-run mark in Test cricket. Playing in his 72nd Test, he has now 6213 runs with 17 hundreds and 19 half-centuries at an average of 52.65.
The other Indians who have achieved this milestone in their careers are Sachin Tendulkar (still playing), Rahul Dravid (still playing), Sunil Gavaskar (10122 runs in 125 Tests), Sourav Ganguly (7212 runs in 113 Tests), Dilip Vengsarkar (6868 runs in 116 Tests), VVS Laxman (still playing), Mohd Azharuddin (6215 in 99 Tests) and Gundappa Viswanath (6080 in 91 Tests).
Sehwag has also become the highest double century maker for India having a total of six such innings to his name, one more than Dravid. Tendulkar and Gavaskar have scored four double centuries each.
Post-lunch, Sehwag was simply unstoppable. “Then I was seeing the ball really well. So I thought ‘let’s bat the way I bat – see the ball, hit the ball’.
“It’s still a good track to bat on. First day, the wicket was little damp so the ball seamed a bit. It was much better today and I think from fourth day, the track would turn,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag raised 221 runs with his opening partner Murali Vijay (76) who rued missing a century when he was trapped by Rangana Herath 24 runs away from the mark.
“I was very positive and was hitting the ball today. But that was a poor dismissal and maybe I would not make the mistake in my next match,” said the youngster.
Asked what advice he got from Sehwag during their partnership, Vijay said, “He told me to concentrate on watching the ball till the last moment and play.”
–PTI