Indian media hail Sachin Tendulkar's double century

The 36-year-old hit 25 fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 200 off 147 balls as India thrashed South Africa by 153 runs in the city of Gwalior.

Tendulkar is already the leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket.

Several leading former players from around the world have also paid tribute to Tendulkar's achievement.

Writing for cricinfo, former Indian player Sanjay Manjrekar said nobody deserved the record better than Tendulkar.

"He has got so many very good hundreds, but he needed that one knock that would create history," he wrote.

"He doesn't have a triple hundred in Tests, he doesn't have the quickest fifty or hundred [in ODIs] or the fastest hundred in Tests. He has just got loads of very good Tests and ODI hundreds."

"So this is something he will specially cherish. He has that one individual innings that he can be really proud of."

'Eye of the tiger'

The Indian Express newspaper carried a photograph of Tendulkar raising his bat after the feat - it was captioned: "God!"

"The record has come late in Tendulkar's career, a career in which India remained in the game far too often and for far too many stretches just by his very presence," the newspaper wrote .

"For that reason, for the sense that Tendulkar now plays in a team that has to win without him, the record is timely."

"200 Not Out", headlined the Hindustan Times newspaper.

"Tendulkar remains the flag bearer of the increasingly dwindling phenomenon of quantity matching quality," the newspaper said .

Business newspaper, The Economic Times, led with the headline, "Two-Tonner Tendulkar".

"[Tendulkar's innings] is a testimony and commitment even as he heads for his 37th birthday. He is looking fit, focussed and formidable as ever, and his timing remains untouched by the passing years," wrote former Pakistani captain, Imran Khan, in the newspaper.

"An absolutely phenomenal record by a truly phenomenal player."

The Hindu newspaper called Tendulkar's innings an "epic effort of focus, flair and dare".

"He is still an explosive athlete; he still has the eye of the tiger."

"Immortal at 200", headlined The Times of India newspaper.

"There are no speed limits on Tendulkar's road to excellence. After two decades of basking in the glory of his sporting pre-eminence on the world stage, India is now privileged to witness the second coming of the most complete and prolific batsman of this age," said the newspaper.