Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar played a perfect ambassador of the game of cricket, which is known to be a gentleman's sport, when he asked India's stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag to withdraw a run-out appeal against Sri Lanka batsman Lahiru Thirimanne during the 8th ODI of the tri-series in Brisbane.

At 37, most athletes are entering the last leg of their sporting careers. Not Ricky Ponting. Apart from his grit and determination to excel, his aging body ought to be asking for a break. Question though is if his team can afford to relent to his body's needs.

Depending on the player, an ODI series can either be little more than a speed-bump on a long cricketing road or a pivotal juncture in the journey.

The Plays of the Day from the first Twenty20 between Australia and India, in Sydney

Once upon a time he was called 'The Wall' for giving that steady look to the Indian cricket team, but the way Rahul Dravid is struggling these days, does he not personify 'The Berlin Wall'?

One of these days Ishant Sharma is going to bowl worse than he is doing, and walk away with a five-for. That's what his team-mates, and more importantly his opponents think. One of these days.

It is impossible to be completely rational about sport. Romance and sentiment are part of the deal. To think about or relate to sport with detached and clinical logic is to strip it of its very soul.

Sachin Tendulkar was on 8. Mitchell Starc was on his Test number 3. The battle in the second innings of the third Test eventually went in favour of the 21-year-old. According to certain reports in the Australian press, the Starc phone has not stopped ringing since.

In his quest for a 100th international century, Sachin Tendulkar has often lost his wicket to defensive batting but the Indian icon is expected to be in top gear in the fourth and final Test against Australia starting here on Tuesday.

A couple of scores in single digits during the upcoming fourth Test against Australia here and Virender Sehwag's average, for the first time in 26 months and 25 Tests, could fall below 50 per innings.