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- Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised Sachin Tendulkar for his "amazing" display of shots but lamented that his team could not shave off the New Zealand tail, which wagged in the third one-dayer here today. "He (Tendulkar) is an amazing batsman. The kind of shots he plays is amazing," Dhoni said about Tendulkar
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar filled a gap in his exhaustive resume when he scored 163 before retiring hurt in the third one-day cricket international against New Zealand. The century was Tendulkar's 43rd in one-day internationals and his 91st in all forms of cricket for India but was his first in limited-overs matches in New Zealand.
'I've always been wanting to get a hundred here,' Tendulkar said. 'I remember way back in 1994 when I started opening the batting for India in one-dayers my first match I scored 80-odd runs and that was probably the closest I've got to scoring a hundred here'.
Tendulkar said he believed a double century might be possible before he was forced the leave the field with an abdominal injury in the 45th over as India amassed 392 for four, the highest one-day total in New Zealand. India won by 58 runs. "Towards the end I was hopeful that I could get a double hundred if I could stay there till the 50th over. It was in the vicinity," he said.
On the batting line-up: I would definitely say this is the best Indian batting line-up. We got almost five or six guys who can clear the ropes at will. If you have a good four or five overs in a row, we could end up scoring 50-plus runs. At the back of our minds, we know that with such an explosive line-up no target is impossible.
On his first 100 in NZ in 19 years : I started opening in 1994 here and got close to it around that period. The next tour was actually 2002-03 where I missed out on a few matches because of an ankle injury. I have not played that many number of games here. I got close to scoring hundreds here, but didn't manage to. It is better late than never.
On opting out of T20: I opted out of the T20 teams as I felt I wasn't in a position to give my best and my body was not ready for it. The guys went and played brilliantly, and I don't want to change that momentum.
On getting 50 hundreds: I am enjoying the game. I just want to go out and enjoy my game and not have targets. While doing that if it happens, well and good. The most important factor is to keep enjoying my game and keep winning matches for India.
On 2011 World Cup: As I said earlier I want to enjoy my game. That is still some time away. At this moment, I want to concentrate on this tour. We'll see what happens later.
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