Did you know? Sachin Tendulkar played his last ODI against Pakistan in the Asia Cup
Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar's final ODI match of his illustrious career came against Pakistan in the 2012 edition of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. The opening batter stretched his career even after winning the 2011 ODI World Cup on home soil and got his highly-awaited 100th International hundred in the Asia Cup against the host nation.
Tendulkar entered the contest against Pakistan having vanquished his demons in the form of the 100th international hundred. Playing in his record 463rd ODI, he had a stern test after Pakistan amassed 329-6 in 50 overs after opting to bat first.
Tendulkar got off to his trademark brisk start despite India losing Gautam Gambhir for a duck in the run chase. He took on the pace attack comprising Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, and Aizaz Cheema and also handled the spinners in Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi.
He then forged an important partnership with Virat Kohli for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the Men in Blue.
Tendulkar reached the half-century mark, the 96th ODI fifty of his career, off just 45 balls, and was on course to make something out of it. However, his innings came to an abrupt end as he edged one to slip off Saeed Ajmal's bowling. It was a foreshadowing of sorts as the Little Master was dismissed in a similar fashion in his last international match as well.
Sachin Tendulkar had to depart after scoring 52 runs off 48 deliveries, with five fours and a six, and propelled India to 133 inside 20 overs. His knock did not end in vain, as Virat Kohli scored his highest ODI score of 183 and was aided by a half-century from Rohit Sharma as well to help India scale the target with two overs to spare.
Sachin Tendulkar announced his ODI retirement on December 23, 2012
India narrowly missed out on the finals of the 2012 Asia Cup, with their group-stage loss against Bangladesh proving to be costly. The Men in Blue played a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka shortly after, but Sachin Tendulkar was not part of the squad.
He ultimately decided to retire from the format in late 2012 but went on to play Tests for one more year before ending his 24-year-old cricketing career as a whole.
Tendulkar ended up as the leading run scorer in ODIs, a record that he holds to this day. He amassed 18,426 runs in 463 matches at an average of 44.83.