Thursday's ODI among the great 50-Over games played in the country

Thursday's India vs Australia ODI in Hyderabad was among the great 50-over games played in the country

Thursday'su00a0Indiau00a0vs Australiau00a0ODI in Hyderabad was among the great 50-over games played in the country

Cricket fans who witnessed yesterday's enthralling one-day international match at Hyderabad must consider themselves privileged.

The match will surely have to be classified in Indian history at any rate among the great 50-over games played in the country.

Equally pertinently, the game will be long remembered for the amazing Sachin Tendulkar's incandescent innings of 175 off 141 deliveries.

Memorable: Shaun Marsh celebrates his maiden ODI ton in Hyderabad yesterday. PIC/ATUL KAMBLE

The Little Master's knock yesterday will, undoubtedly, rank among his best ever and, arguably, alongside his unforgettable 143 at Sharjah against Australia in 1998.

One of the best
His innings yesterday prompted Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to describe it as "One of the best knocks I've seen" and the match as "most extraordinary".

Man of the Match Tendulkar's "passion" and "caring about playing for India", to which he himself alluded at the awards ceremony last night, are nothing if not stirringly exemplary.

Virender Sehwag, who can be equally, if not more, brilliant when in the mood, would do well to emulate his opening partner's example in this respect.

Even after 20 years of sapping international cricket and numerous injuries, 36-year old Tendulkar's fervid enthusiasm for the game, insatiable hunger for excellence and fierce devotion to team and country remain undiminished.

In the words of William Shakespeare in a reference to Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, albeit in an altogether different context: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety."

Reclusive to a fault, the great Tendulkar, nevertheless, wears his Indian-ness on his sleeve. His great disappointment at his team's wafer-thin three-run defeat last night, as at Vadodara (four-run loss), was manifest in the midst of all the acclaim showered upon him.

Equally significant was his dignified demeanour upon completing 17,000 ODI runs the characteristic raising of the head skywards by way of thanksgiving to the One Above and his dear departed father followed by a humble acknowledgement of the crowd's applause and an almost peremptory wave to the dressing room for replacement of his bat to get on with the task at hand without further ado.

In the ultimate analysis, Australia held their nerves in the critical, heart-stopping climax after having amassed 350 for four on a munificent wicket that produced 697 runs to the delight of an ecstatic capacity crowd.

To say the visitors were aided by the magnanimity of Indian fielders, who failed to hold on to three catches, albeit difficult ones, would be churlish.

The reasons for India's defeat are manifold the brilliant batting performance of the Australian batsmen, especially centurion Shaun Marsh, on a bounteous pitch on which the Indian bowlers failed to make an impression, the three dropped catches, and disappointing performances of the Indian batsmen following the blistering start given by Sehwag and Tendulkar.

Nerves
After Tendulkar and Suresh Raina brought the team to within an ace of victory before perishing to the disciplined bowling of Shane Watson (three for 47) and debutant Clint McKay (three for 59), the lower order batsmen, notably Ravindra Jadeja, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar let the tension get the better of them.

The fact of the matter is that Australia, once again, demonstrated their steely resolve to maintain their position at the top of the pecking order, despite injuries to regulars Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Bracken, as also to Brett Lee, James Hopes, Peter Siddle, Tim Paine and Moises Henriques (the last five having to return home mid-series), an adversity that would have crippled any other side.

What a thrilling series this is turning out to be between the top two ODI teams of the world.

With Australia leading 3-2 in the seven match series, aficionados can look forward to a veritable smorgasbord in the two games to follow, the last of which will be played at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai next Wednesday.

The current ODI series has certainly dealt a sharp riposte to the doomsayers who had prematurely consigned the 50-overs game to the dust-heap of history following limited interest in recent editions of the Champions Trophy and the craze engendered by Twenty20, the new kid on the block that has taken the cricketing world by storm.

In cricket-crazy India, at least, the 50-overs international game is alive and well thus far.