It's an honour to play for India: Sachin by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	SR Tendulkar
Event:	Australia in India 2009/10

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DateLine: 6th November 2009

 

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said that he was glad to have the honour of representing India in the international arena for 20 years.

 

Tendulkar, who was chasing the milestone of 17,000 ODI runs from the onset of the series against Australia, achieved the feat during his 141-ball 175, which he made for a losing cause.

 

"It's the passion of representing India in international cricket that keep me motivated all the time. It's always a dream to play for my country. I am absolutely honoured to do that for the last 20 years," Tendulkar said after the fifth one-dayer here today.

 

Tendulkar though was quite disappointed after losing the crucial game to Australia by only three runs.

 

"We started off very well, there was a good partnership between Suresh (Raina) and me at one point of time. But we lost few crucial wickets and also the game itself. So it's disappointing at the end of the day," Tendulkar said.

 

The Mumbai cricketer praised young Suresh Raina, who scored run-a-ball 59 to make the battle interesting and shared a 137-run fifth wicket partnership with the batting maestro.

 

"Suresh is a terrific talent. We were trying to push the game as close as possible. We were chasing a big target, there was constant pressure on us, but we managed it well to bring the match quite close," Tendulkar said after being adjudged Man of the Match.