"If I bat till lunch tomorrow I may get the record."Virender SehwagSehwag, who has four 200-plus scores in his 14 Test centuries, is well-placed to go after the retired Lara's record individual score of 400 not out when he resumes on day four at the Chidambaram stadium.
"I am not thinking of the record right now, I just want to have a good night's rest," Sehwag said.
"If I bat till lunch tomorrow I may get the record.
"But I have no words to describe how I feel. I have never concentrated so much in my life and that is why I think this one was better than the one in Pakistan."Nothing for the bowlers
With just 11 wickets having fallen in three days on a barren pitch that is proving to be a bowlers' nightmare, a draw would appear the most likely result in the first match of the three-Test series.
South Africa will still need to battle the Indian spinners on the slowly wearing turf in their second innings if the home side, who trail by just 72 runs, manage to gain a useful first innings lead.Sehwag put on 213 for the first wicket with fellow opener Wasim Jaffer (73) and 255 in an unbroken second-wicket stand with Rahul Dravid, who remains unbeaten on 65.
Dravid, who took his career tally to 9,985 runs by stumps, needs only 15 more to become the sixth batsman in history to complete 10,000 Test runs.Sehwag's double ton off 194 balls was the third fastest in Test history after New Zealander Nathan Astle's 153-ball effort against England at Christchurch in 2001 and Sehwag's own 182-ball innings against Pakistan in Lahore in 2006.
'Best ever'
The 55-Test veteran was at his best in the afternoon session when he scored 108 of India's 133 runs after lunch as the South African bowling wilted under the assault in harsh hot and humid weather.
It was Sehwag's second successive three-figure innings following a match-saving 151 in his last match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in January.
"This is the best batting I have ever seen."Mickey Arthur,South Africa coachSehwag and Jaffer, who resumed at the overnight score of 82-0, batted through the morning session to put 176 on the board by lunch.
Jaffer made it to 73 before he edged left-arm spinner Paul Harris to Jacques Kallis in the slips to give the tourists their only breakthrough of the day.
Mickey Arthur, South African coach, said he had not seen anyone bat better than Sehwag.
"We were beaten by a champion player," Arthur conceded.
"In my wildest dream I did not imagine that India will score so quickly and it all came down to one player.
"He played every possible shot in a disciplined manner and put India in a strong position. We tried every possible way to contain him, including bowling outside the line, but nothing worked.
"This is the best batting I have ever seen."