Would have traded 175 run knock for Indian win: Tendulkar

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Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar says he would have “gladly traded” his knock of 175 against Australia in 2009 for an Indian victory even though he “certainly” rates it as one of the very best in his glorious ODI career.

Chasing 351 runs in the fifth of the seven-match ODI series at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium in Hyderabad, Tendulkar fell awfully close to pulling off an unlikely win with an incredible innings.

“It was certainly one of my best innings, but I would have gladly traded those 175 runs for a victory,” Tendulkar said about the match which India lost by three runs.

He scored those runs off 141 balls and smashed 19 fours and four sixes. Tendulkar completed 17,000 runs in ODIs during the course of that innings.

“It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be out of place. I was able to execute my strokes well. Our middle order failed, but Suresh Raina batted fluently. We had a good partnership of 137. Suresh was caught behind at 299 in the 43rd over.

“Harbhajan Singh fell soon after, to make it 300/6, but I believed we were very much in control. It was a question of hanging in there, running well and ensuring that bad balls were dealt with harshly,” he said. “We were only 19 away when I tried to lift (Clint) McKay over short fine-leg, only to be caught by (Nathan) Hauritz. It was a huge disappointment. The lower order tried hard, but more wickets fell, and we fell short by three runs,” Tendulkar wrote in a piece for BCCI’s official website.