Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was among the lucky ones to have witnessed former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar’s epic 194-run knock against India live at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

While reacting to a Twitter video of Anwar’s century against England at The Oval in 1996, Ashwin recalled watching Anwar’s record-breaking innings (then highest individual ODI score) several times on highlights.

“Watched his 194 live at Chepauk and a few 100 more times on highlights,” Ashwin tweeted.

A Twitter user questioned the quality of Anwar’s knock since the latter used a runner for majority of his inning. To which, Ashwin gave a fitting reply while describing the left-hander’s batting as ‘a treat to the eye’.

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“Batsmen were never given out lbw if they plonked their foot on the front foot then, can we erase all the runs that were made by batters then?? Not a fair judgement, Saeed Anwar’s batting was a treat to the eye,” Ashwin replied.

Last year, the Indian spinner also revealed in a question-answer session that Anwar was his favourite Pakistan batsman.

Anwar’s majestic 146-ball knock included 22 fours and five maximums as he smacked the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground.

The 34-year-old left-hander ended a 15-year career with 4,052 runs at an average of 45.52 in 55 Tests and 8,823 runs, averaging 39.21, in 247 ODIs.

A computer engineer by qualification, and a Wisden cricketer of the year in 1997, will be remembered as an elegant player on the world stage who flourished on pure timing and placements.

His record was equaled by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry in 2009 and eventually broken by Indian batting great, Sachin Tendulkar, a year later. Meanwhile, opening batsman Fakhar Zaman became Pakistan’s first double centurion in ODIs, when he smashed 210 off 156 deliveries against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2018.