SACHIN 17000 AND STILL GOING

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar rated his 175 against Australia here Thursday as one of the best knocks of his career. Tendulkar scored 175 off 141 ball, enroute to his record 17,168 runs, but couldn't prevent India from losing the fifth ODI to Australia by three runs. 'I thought we started off really well then lost wickets. Suresh (Raina) and I had a good partnership but in the end, it was disappointing. The pressure to keep scoring runs was there and we took it very close. But I feel it was one of my best knocks,' said Tendulkar, who was adjudged as the Man of the Match. The batting maestro praised Raina for playing a strokefilled run-a-ball that got India close while chasing 351 to win. On his personal milestone of crossing 17,000 runs, Tendulkar said: 'I care about playing for India, it's a passion and I have been absoloutely honoured to play for India so long.'
Australian captain Ricky Ponting also applauded Tendulkar for playing one of the best knocks in his 20-year-old career. 'It was one of the amazing games and certainly one of the best innings ever from Sachin. Sachin didn't play many bad shots today!

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad today lavished praise on batting great Sachin Tendulkar and said the young cricketers in the sub-continent should follow his example if they are serious about carving out a career in cricket.Miandad was all praise for the Tendulkar, who completed 17,000 ODI runs in the fifth one-day international against Australia at Hyderabad today."I think the way Tendulkar has handled his career and lasted for so long, keeping his passion for runs alive, is a lesson for budding young cricketers in Pakistan and India," Miandad said."Youngsters should adopt Tendulkar as their role model if they want to progress in the sport," he added.Miandad said he admired the way Tendulkar had kept his hunger alive for runs despite having such a long career.