For Graham Thorpe, it was a feeling of deja vu.
Watching Virender Sehwag decimate the South African bowlers for his magical knock of 319 in the first Test at Chennai reminded him of Brian Lara's twin record knocks of 400 and 375 against England.
Lara scored a world record 400 not out in Antigua in April 2004 to follow up on his 375 against the same opponents at the same venue ten years earlier.
However, Thorpe believes that Sehwag's knock was more destructive as he smashed 42 boundaries and five sixes. Lara's 375 stretched 538 deliveries and his 400 took 582 deliveries as compared to Sehwag's 304 deliveries for 319.
"All three were magical knocks for sure," the former English batsman told rediff.com. "This knock was Sehwag was quite a brutal knock, it was a magical innings. The timing was fantastic, unorthodox at times, but one of the best knocks I have seen."
Thorpe, who played 100 Tests and 82 ODIs for England, said it was unbelievable that a player of Sehwag's quality was dropped from the Test team last year but believes it may have helped him.
"I don't know why he was dropped, maybe he had a bad run of form, but sometimes being left out of the side does you good. You comeback twice the player you were sometimes when you get dropped. You recognise situations much better than you did before.
"It is great that Sehwag is back. He is a great entertainer, one of the few around the world, you want to watch batting. He is a fantastic performer," the 38-year-old added.
This was Sehwag's second triple century joining the legendary duo of Don Bradman and Lara. Sehwag also has two double centuries and ten centuries to his credit in 55 Test matches.
"He has played a few destructive knocks in Test cricket, but this one will be up there because of the heat and humidity. He kept his concentration and showed good fitness. He has got great skill and he has got the hunger as well," said Thorpe.
