Player ratings: India vs Australia

Here is a look at how India and Australia's players performed at the fifth ODI in Hyderabad, which the hosts lost by a whisker by just 3 runs

India

Sachin Tendulkar – 10

The Little Master did not put a foot wrong though India lost by three runs. He went past 17,000 runs and then played like the genius he has been for 20 years. His 175 runs almost got India home.

Virender Sehwag- 5

Sehwag was once again turning the heat on the Aussies till he perished. A few more overs of Sehwag in the middle and India would have been comfortably home but like always, the marauder tried.

Gautam Gambhir- 4

The southpaw suddenly looks out of form and his was a vital wicket for the Australians. He could have done more.

Yuvraj Singh- 4

A lot depended on how Yuvi shaped up during the course of India’s chase. However, once he flopped, India were again under pressure despite Tendulkar blazing from all guns.

MS Dhoni- 4

The skipper has been in brilliant form through the series but could not get his act right tonight. He was rather unfortunate to perish to a brilliant catch from Adam Voges.

Suresh Raina- 8

Raina was at his brutal best and showed a mature head on his shoulders in a partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which almost got India home.

Ravindra Jadeja- 3

Jadeja made a criminal mistake, going for a non existent single. The southpaw did his part scoring some quick runs but a silly run out cost India the match after a sublime knock from Tendulkar.

Harbhajan Singh- 6

Bhajji’s 44 runs off 10 overs was brilliant in the context of the game, where almost 700 runs were scored by both sides. He went for a duck but at the end of the day, Bhajji played his role as a bowler alright.

Ashish Nehra – 3

Nehra was a huge disappointment in Hyderabad, giving away 79 runs in his quota of overs. The left arm seamer just did not get it right and was hammered all round the park by gleeful Australian batsmen.

Praveen Kumar- 4

68 runs and two wickets in nine overs may not make for very poor reading in a high scoring match but PK looked out of sorts. He tried to win it for India with the bat but could not make his ground.

Munaf Patel- 3

Called in to replace the out of form Ishant Sharma, Patel was smacked for 73 runs in nine overs. And yes, he went wicketless too.

Australia

Shane Watson- 8

What an all-rounder he is turning out to be for Australia. A breathtaking 93 coupled with three important wickets at a crucial stage meant the visitors were always in the game despite the Tendulkar onslaught.

Shaun Marsh- 9

A maiden ODI hundred under pressure propelled the Aussies to the eventual 350 for four. The southpaw batted like a man possessed and rotated the strike cleverly.

Ricky Ponting- 7

The captain was once again in sublime touch, notching up 45 runs and guiding Marsh during the course of the innings. Punter also rallied around his men, who held their nerves to finally stop the Indian charge by three runs.

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Cameron White- 7

White struck yet another fifty in the series and it was he, along with Michael Hussey, who put the hosts under the hammer at the end of the innings.

Michael Hussey- 6

He could not score more than 31 only because he did not get enough overs to bat. However, Hussey scored at more than a run a ball and stitched up a valuable partnership with White.

Adam Voges -5

Voges did not bat and went for 19 runs in his three overs but he stood out with a sensational catch to dismiss the dangerous MS Dhoni.

Graham Manou -4

The wicketkeeper did not get a chance to bat but was pretty decent behind the stumps.

Nathan Hauritz – 4

The off-spinner went for 43 runs in his five overs and lacked any sting and bite on a terrific batting track.

Doug Bollinger- 4

Like all bowlers, Bollinger found the going tough in Hyderabad but pulled things back for the visitors in the closing stages.

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Ben Hilfenhaus- 4

He had a tough time too and was only able to fill in the numbers as a new ball bowler in the absence of Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson.

Clint McKay- 6

The debutant medium pacer was outstanding with his 59 for three in 10 overs. Mckay bowled cleverly and stayed calm though he was brought on to bowl in the batting power play.

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Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, U.S.A., beach volleyball, celebrate sweet victory at the Olympics. The May-Walsh partnership is the most world's most successful.

Marie-Jose Perec, France, track star. After a troubled career the gold-winning Olympian retired and looked forward to a career in tourism on Guadaloupe. Marie-Jose Perec could have run away with the gold in the women's 400-meter race in the Sydney Olympics. Instead, she just ran away. Reuters reported that the French track star fled the country, claiming that someone had threatened her at her hotel. Apart from Perec's assertion, there's no proof that such an encounter took place. This is one of a line of weird happenings in Perec's athletics career.

Above, Amy Acuff, U.S.A., high jump. Below, Merlene Ottey, Jamaica and Slovenia, veteran sprinter.


Kim Gevaert, Belgium, retired sprinter, Olympian and European champion.


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Josefine Oqvist Sweden, international soccer player and Olympian. Below Carin Koch (below), Sweden, golf. She plays mainly on the LPGSA tour.

Inge "The Body" de Bruijn, Dutch superstar swimmer



Anna Willard, U.S.A., steeplechaser. Speaking of the mileage needed to be a top competitive college runner, she says: "I increased five to ten miles every year at Brown. I was 50 to 55 freshman year, 55 to 60 sophomore year, junior year up to 65, and senior year 70 to 75. This fall, I didn't go over 82 to 83. I probably stayed 75 to 80. Of course, I'd take a day off every two or three weeks, so sometimes I'd have a low week. I don't like to focus on the number too much. I tried to see how my body was feeling, which I didn't actually do the best job at. I had an Achilles problem. I had to take four weeks off. Thinking about it now, actually, it was probably a really good thing. I got to take a little time off and that pushes my season a little farther back right now."

Inger Miller, U.S.A., sprint star. Commenting on the drugs scandal surrounding former rival Marion Jones, Miller said: "I'm happy that she has turned the medals over, and there was no fight for it or anything like that," said Inger Miller. At least she's woman enough to stand up and say the truth and do what's right."

Cheryl Taplin, U.S.A., retired sprinter. At the end of 2000, Taplin walked away from running. She had torn an Achilles tendon next to her heel, and the recovery was slow. She was low on money.

She left track and field because of what others were doing at her expense. Performance-enhancing drugs were in widespread use by her fellow athletes.

"It was very unfair," Taplin said. "That's the part that was so aggravating because of all the work I was putting in with training and the mental part -- and the mental part was as hard as the physical part. To a certain extent, you knew who was (using drugs) or had an idea. For the most part, a lot of my friends that I was really close with, we all kind of stopped (competing) around the same time... It was out of hand. We just couldn't take it any more." Taplin came home.

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Inge "The Body" de Bruijn, Dutch superstar swimmer


Sweden, international soccer player and Olympian. Below Carin Koch (below), Sweden, golf. She plays mainly on the LPGSA tour.





Therese Alshammer, Sweden, swimmer diva.


Merlene Ottey, Jamaica and Slovenia, sprint star and world record breaker. Still running at 48, Ottey says: "I didn't think I'd still be here 28 years later. The first time I was aware of the Olympics was 1976. I listened to it on radio; I didn't have a TV. I wanted to know, 'What is all this fuss about?' And they told me Jamaica was winning. I said, 'Oh great, I want to be in the next Olympics.' "

Cheryl Taplin, U.S.A., retired sprinter. At the end of 2000, Taplin walked away from running. She had torn an Achilles tendon next to her heel, and the recovery was slow. She was low on money. 

She left track and field because of what others were doing at her expense. Performance-enhancing drugs were in widespread use by her fellow athletes.

"It was very unfair," Taplin said. "That's the part that was so aggravating because of all the work I was putting in with training and the mental part -- and the mental part was as hard as the physical part. To a certain extent, you knew who was (using drugs) or had an idea. For the most part, a lot of my friends that I was really close with, we all kind of stopped (competing) around the same time... It was out of hand. We just couldn't take it any more." Taplin came home.

Inger Miller, U.S.A., sprint star. Commenting on the drugs scandal surrounding former rival Marion Jones, Miller said: "I'm happy that she has turned the medals over, and there was no fight for it or anything like that," said Inger Miller. At least she's woman enough to stand up and say the truth and do what's right."

Anna Willard, U.S.A., steeplechaser. Speaking of the mileage needed to be a top competitive college runner, she says: "I increased five to ten miles every year at Brown. I was 50 to 55 freshman year, 55 to 60 sophomore year, junior year up to 65, and senior year 70 to 75. This fall, I didn't go over 82 to 83. I probably stayed 75 to 80. Of course, I'd take a day off every two or three weeks, so sometimes I'd have a low week. I don't like to focus on the number too much. I tried to see how my body was feeling, which I didn't actually do the best job at. I had an Achilles problem. I had to take four weeks off. Thinking about it now, actually, it was probably a really good thing. I got to take a little time off and that pushes my season a little farther back right now."

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: Jennie Finch, softball. Finch had a 2 - 0 win-loss record in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, striking out 13 batters in eight innings while giving up only one hit, one walk and no runs. Her pitching helped lead the American team to the gold medal.

Misty May-Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh won gold in beach volleyball at both the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. They have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time".

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Lee desperate for quick recovery

	Brett Lee's elbow continues to cause him problems © AFP

Brett Lee has set his sights on playing in the first Test against West Indies despite being sent home from India with an elbow injury. Lee has had ankle and side problems before the latest setback, but he intends to fight for his spot.

"I will be doing everything I possibly can to make sure I'm back on the cricket field ASAP," Lee said after arriving back in Sydney. "I still enjoy my cricket and I still think the way that I've been bowling, I've been really happy with my personal form. I have to make sure I stay nice and fit."

Now 32, Lee must edge ahead of Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Stuart Clark to add to his 76 Tests. Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, said Lee was sent home to give him the best chance of recovering.

"It is not a case of writing him off at all," Nielsen said in the Sunday Mail. "We are just being careful and prudent. It is only three weeks before the first Test so we want to get to the source of the problem the best way we can and get the best diagnosis."

Lee hurt himself in the opening ODI against India last Sunday after bowling six overs. He insisted the problem was not related to his appearances in the Champions League Twenty20, and he is not the only player with a recent heavy workload. Australia have been hit by a series of injuries since the Ashes tour and have less than a month before the Test series against West Indies begins in Brisbane on November 26.

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