Sehwag equals Azhar with fourth ton vs SA

New Delhi: With his eighteenth Test century on the third day of the first Test against South Africa in Nagpur, Virender Sehwag equalled Mohammad Azharuddin's record of scoring four Test centuries against the Proteas.

Sehwag, who made his Test debut against South Africa in 2001, has been a prolific scorer against this opposition.

105 on debut, Bloemfontein, 2001 — Coming in with India in serious trouble at 68-4 in the first innings, Sehwag joined Sachin Tendulkar in the crease. Tendulkar was in murderous mood, but Sehwag matched his mentor shot for shot, carving 19 boundaries en route his maiden Test hundred. India ended up losing the first Test, before the series turned fractious following bans on several Indian players in the following Test.

164, Kanpur, 2004 — South Africa's first team never looked so new for years, but a featherbed in Kanpur allowed them to score 500-plus. India, in reply, were no less as Sehwag and Gambhir put on more than 200 runs for the opening wicket. Gambhir missed out on a century by four runs, but Sehwag's stunning run of form continued. Since his 195 at Melbourne, Sehwag hadn't stopped below 150 in the centuries he scored. He ended up with 164.

319, Chennai, 2008 — What Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla enabled South Africa to reach in their first innings, Sehwag managed to do so alone, in half the time. Sehwag blazed to the fastest triple century ever, and his second.

109, Nagpur, 2010 — In the opening Test of the current series, South Africa piled up 558 before India took the field and found themselves in early trouble. But Sehwag brought India back with an uncharacteristic knock. Sehwag was patient in shot selection and brought up his hundred in testing circumstances.