Sachin's double ton to India's rescue

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Colombo: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar slammed his fifth Test double hundred on Thursday as India looked all set to save the second Test against Sri Lanka with still a day left to play at the Sinhalese Sports Club here.

The knock couldn't have come at a better time for India, who already 0-1 down in the three-game series, could lose their No. 1 Test status if they went down 2-0 to the Lankans. India will now travel to the third Test at the P Sara Stadium, also in Colombo, next week with a morale boosting batting performance after having faced a 10-wicket loss in the first Test.

India have never lost a Test match in which Tendulkar has scored a double ton. His previous four have resulted in three draws and one win. While expecting a win in the second Test will be giving in to wild imaginings, the knock is sure to give India the upper hand especially because they were chasing a mammoth Sri Lankan first innings total of 642/4 declared.

Here's a quick recap of Tendulkar's previous four double hundreds:

217 vs New Zealand: His first double hundred came while batting first at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad in 1999. Tendulkar was ably supported by Sadagoppan Ramesh who scored 110 and Sourav Ganguly who made 125. The game ended in a draw.

201 not out vs Zimbabwe: His second double ton came a year later in 2000 against Zimbabwe in Nagpur. In another drawn game, the other notable performances came from SS Das (110) and Rahul Dravid (162).

241 not out vs Australia: A struggling Tendulkar returned to form with this fine double hundred down Under at Sydney in January 2004. He shut off the off side completely and scored only on the leg. VVS Laxman also scored a 178 in this drawn affair.

248 not out vs Bangladesh: Tendulkar ended 2004 the way in which he started out with yet another double ton. His knock this time set up a fine win as India beat Bangladesh in Dhaka by an innings and 140 runs.