Having smashed a number of records in his 20-year long career, milestone man Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday became the first player in the history of the game to amass 17,000 run, but his breathtaking 175-run knock went in vain as India slumped to a three-run defeat in the fifth one-dayer against Australia in Hyderabad.
Tendulkar was chasing the milestone from the onset of the series against Australia and achieved the feat when he, requiring seven runs coming into Thursday's match, played an on-drive to fetch three runs off pacer Ben Hilfenhaus.
The 35,000 strong packed crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium erupted to joy when Tendulkar reached the magic figure in company of opening partner Virender Sehwag.
Tendulkar reached his new ODI milestone in his 435th match and 66th tie against the World Cup holders.
He went to make 175 runs from 141 balls with 19 fours and four sixes in India's chase before he fell to debutant Clint McKay in the 48th over.
With India needing 19 off 18 deliveries, Tendulkar went for paddle scoop over fine leg, only to top edge it to a diving Nathan Hauritz, much to the disappointment of the jam-packed crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here.
The diminutive Mumbaikar, who made his ODI debut Pakistan in 1989, is already way ahead of his contemporaries when it comes to accumulating runs.
Tendulkar's pile of runs now stands at 17,168 at an average of over 44. He has 45 ODI hundreds under his belt.
Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya is the second in the list with 13,377 while Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is way behind with 12,241 runs under his belt.
Rated as the world's best batsman after Australian legend Sir Donald Bradman, Tendulkar has an awe-inspiring Test record.
In the whopping 159 matches that he has played, Tendulkar has scored 12,773 runs at an average of 54.58.
The break-up of Tendulkar's run tally against various opponents:
2995 in 66 v Australia
1335 in 36 v England
1750 in 42 v New Zealand
2389 in 67 v Pakistan
1655 in 52 v South Africa
2749 in 74 v Sri Lanka,
1571 in 38 v West Indies
1377 in 34 v Zimbabwe,
354 in 10 matches v Bangladesh
57 in 1 v Bermuda
4 in 1 v Ireland
647 in 10 v Kenya
152 in 1 v Namibia
52 in 1 v Netherlands
81 in 2 v UAE. PTI
