NEW DELHI, March 31: India's Virender Sehwag loves to slash short-pitched balls for six over point, which he calls his "lottery" deliveries. So until this week, it would not have been appropriate to describe the cavalier opening batsman as cricket's version of a marathon man.

That thought is now undergoing an image makeover after he scored 309 in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan, becoming India's first triple centurion in their 72-year Test history.

The 25-year-old from Delhi achieved the feat with a stunning six over midwicket against off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, moving in one stroke from 295. The first reaction among conventional fans was surprise.

For one, it took so long for an Indian batsman to score a triple hundred despite the country producing many technically equipped players with a continuous hunger for runs.

More surprising, however, was how the unorthodox Sehwag beat team mates like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and the previous generation's Sunil Gavaskar, the first man to reach 10000 Test runs, to the mark.

Tendulkar, who has kept bettering one record or another since his debut as a 16-year-old, took almost 10 years to get his first Test 200, subsequently hitting a career-best 241 not out in the fourth Test in Sydney in January.

Gavaskar's Indian record of 236 had stood for around 18 years until Vangipurappu Laxman scored 281 to spark his team's victory out of defeat against Australia in 2001.

Fans had enough reasons to be foxed by Sehwag's triple ton. He was dismissed for 195 during last year's Australian tour attempting a six to reach 200. That did not deter him in Multan to reach the mark in the most audacious way.

Former all rounder Chandu Borde praised Sehwag for overcoming factors that could have prevented him from reaching 300. "It's even more praiseworthy because stroke players like him normally don't have much patience or concentration," he said.

Borde said the reason why Sehwag was able to achieve the milestone was because tougher conditions, with no restriction in the number of bouncers per over and legside fielders allowed behind the batsman, had been eliminated.

"Earlier, captains always used a deep third man to restrict scoring, but heavier bats have changed the direction in which runs are scored and the position has gone out of fashion."

Sehwag in the meantime has kept a recent sub-continent tradition alive by following Sri Lanka's explosive Sanath Jayasuriya, who smashed 340 against India in 1997, and Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq, who amassed 329 against New Zealand two years ago. -Reuters