Tendulkar’s brilliant 175 sails him past 17,000 runs

Sachin Tendulkar scored a brilliant 175 as he crossed his personal milestone of 17,000 ODI runs in the fourth One-Day International against Australia here on Thursday. He became the first cricketer to achieve this landmark.

Two weeks short of completing his two decades in international cricket, 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.

The 175 against Australia here was Tendulkar's 45th ODI century. He rated his score against Australia on Thursday as one of the best knock of his career.

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."

Tendulkar crossed the 17,000-run mark while taking three runs off Ben Hilfenhaus in 4.6 overs. His 17,168 runs are from 435 matches since making his debut in 1989.

Against Australia, Tendulkar has scored 2,995 runs, including nine centuries. Against Sri Lanka he has amassed 2749 runs with eight centuries. He also has an impressive record against arch-rivals Pakistan, against whom he has scored 2,389 runs including five centuries.

Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya is the second highest scorer in ODIs with 13,377, and Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting is the third with 12,241 runs, both way behind Sachin.

- Asian Tribune -