I always maintain that Test cricket and one-day cricket are two different areas, one cannot be connected to the other. However, Tendulkar’s rich vein of form in the longer version seems to have relaxed him and given him the freedom to play in an unburdened manner. Though I did not see the knock, the statistics I have got are staggering. 

The fact that he got the score in 147 balls itself is a huge achievement and by reaching 200 he bettered one of the best one-day knocks I have seen, by Saeed Anwar. The latter was one of the sweetest timers of the ball, and that knock in Chennai was when he was at the peak of his form. To have bettered that Tendulkar must have really turned on the magic with some scintillating shots. 

There may be many who will say that the wicket helped strokeplay and that there was nothing in it for the bowlers. But no matter what the wicket is like, to stand through 50 overs and score 200 is a very, very special effort — an achievement that his contemporaries, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara, would have been proud of. 

If I had had to pick up a guy as the one to score the first one-day double ton, it would have been Virender Sehwag. He is young, belligerent and in unbelievable touch. However, it was his illustrious senior who pipped him at the post. Tendulkar seems to have rediscovered an exuberance and enjoyment which seems to have taken his game to a different level, and India would be hoping that he maintains this rhythm for some time. 

This achievement would mean a lot to Tendulkar, even though he has many records to his name because every opener must have had an eye on this record. A double century has only been a theoretical possibility in limited overs so far, so in many ways Tendulkar has achieved something unusual. True, he has many feathers on his cap, but this one is a really special one. An absolutely phenomenal record by a truly phenomenal player. 
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar has claimed his record innings can be surpassed after he became the first player to hit a double hundred in a one-day international.

"I thought about the 200 mark for the first time when I was probably 175-plus and only 42 overs had been bowled," he said.

"I felt I had a chance, but I didn't think of it seriously until I got really close. Only then I thought there was an opportunity to be had.

"I thought I could take the singles and give Dhoni the strike, because he was striking the ball very well."

Tendulkar already has a world record 13,447 runs in Test cricket and has compiled the most centuries in Tests. No-one has scored more runs in ODIs than Tendulkar, who indicated after yesterday's exploits he had no plans of retiring any time soon.

According to reports, Tendulkar purchased Dorab Villa from its owners, the Satra Group, for around Rs 35 crore. 

"We sold Dorab Villa to Sachin Tendulkar in December," Dr Vijay Satra, brother of managing director Praful Satra, who had purchased the property, told a Mumbai newspaper.

Dorab Villa was built in the 1920s and originally occupied by a Parsi family -- the Wardens. It is a one storey structure, measuring around 9,000 square feet, but the property is spread over around 10,000 square feet.

Tendulkar spent all of his growing up years at Sahitya Sahawas in Bandra East before shifting to the plush La Mer building in Bandra West in 2001.