St Lucia: 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.
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.
Yesterday'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.
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 C G Macartney and Majid Khan of Pakistan.
The 159-run partnership between Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer is India's highest for the first wicket in West Indies, surpassing the 136 between Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad at Kingston in 1975-76.
India's score of 361 for four on the first day of a Test match is their highest ever in a day's play against West Indies, overtaking their 316 for five at Nagpur on the second day in 1994-95.
It is the second highest by any team in West Indies on the first day of a Test match behind Australia's 391 for three at Port of Spain in 2002-03.
India's previous highest on the first day of a Test match against West Indies was 308 for six at Madras in 1987-88.
For the West Indies, Pedro Collins became the 17th bowler to take 100 Test wickets when he dismissed Yuvraj Singh.
The left-armer reached the milestone in 30 Tests. His figures of four for 75 are his best ever against India, surpassing his three for 60 at Kingston in 2001-02.
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