Both the experienced openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, have been rested for the dead rubber. Tendulkar had batted all 50 overs during his unbeaten 200 in the second ODI at Gwalior while Sehwag, who did play in the match, was already suffering from a sore back after the first game in Jaipur.

The home team has also decided to leave out paceman Praveen Kumar while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who had taken a two-match break citing personal reasons, has also been rested for one more game. Add to that, injuries to Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, and the Indian team will be taking the field without seven players who are an automatic inclusion in their starting line-up.

The newcomers in the squad include Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, Tamil Nadu opener M Vijay and Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun. Rohit was most recently part of the squad during the tri-series in Bangladesh last month. Neither Mithun nor Vijay have yet made their one-day debut.

Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (Capt), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra

Legendary Indian opener, Sunil Gavaskar, led the tribute, saying that Tendulkar is the greatest batsman the game has ever seen.

“There is just no question about that. He is the greatest batsman the game has ever seen,” Gavaskar gushed. “See his record! Who else has got 90-plus centuries, 17000-plus runs in ODIs and 13000-plus runs in Test cricket? He is comfortably the greatest batsman ever.”

Australia’s legendary spinner Shane Warne, who has enjoyed many a duel with Tendulkar, followed the innings and kept posting on his Twitter page, egging the Indian to achieve the milestone.

“(I’m) nervous for my good friend Sachin,” Warne posted as Tendulkar approached 200.

“Come on Sachin my friend, get your 200. World record to please! You deserve it,” he said. Once Tendulkar reached the milestone, the leg-spinner posted, “Yes, yes, yes! Well done, Sachin my friend. Congrats and well done! (It’s) awesome.”

Former Indian skipper Dilip Vengsarkar also paid tribute to Tendulkar, saying it was an incredible feat that spoke volumes of the batting master’s toughness.

“It’s an amazing feat to get 200 in a day and that too off only 147 balls,” Vengsarkar said. “It shows his mental and physical toughness. He’s a player who does not throw away his wicket once he’s set. He always places a huge price on his wicket.”

Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi also lavished praise on Tendulkar, calling him the greatest sportsman ever.

“Sachin – the greatest player ever – without any doubt,” the IPL supremo wrote on his Twitter page. “I salute Sachin, world’s greatest sportsman. We can see him only rise. (He is an) inspiration to us all. He is the best,” Modi said.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara also paid his tribute. “What an innings it was! He came close to achieving it twice. I always felt that Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya are capable of doing that,” Sangakkara said.

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad said he was always convinced of Tendulkar’s greatness and the little master has just vindicated his views. “He is my favourite player. I had told that one day he would go on to break all batting records and now you see him scoring runs and runs,” Miandad said.

Another former Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail attributed Tendulkar’s success to his humility. “I think if you ask Saeed Anwar (who jointly held the previous record for highest ODI knock), he would say he’s happy that Tendulkar broke his record,” Sohail said. “The reason for his success is that he has a great respect for the game.”

Gavaskar, meanwhile, advised Tendulkar not to stop and aim for a 250 in ODIs and 450 in tests. “He should aim for more. Maybe a Test innings of 450 or an ODI knock of 250. And then he himself wants to win next year’s World Cup,” said the cricketer-turned-commentator.

“There is a little boy in Tendulkar who wants to keep playing. That spirit keeps him going. It’s absolutely incredible how he keeps going. A lot of others with his record would have had called it enough. But I guess there is no word called enough in Tendulkar’s dictionary,” said Gavaskar, whom Tendulkar has always looked upto. “I think he should go for the triple century in Test cricket. This is something he doesn’t have but he is very capable of. This is well within his reach and he should go for it.”

Former Indian test player Bapu Nadkarni found it difficult to find words to describe the feats of Tendulkar and said, “Whatever record is seen to be impossible to achieve, he makes it possible. That’s all I can say. It seems as he’s getting older, he is becoming more and more mature. No wonder Sir Donald Bradman saw himself in the way Sachin bats,” Nadkarni said.

Sachin’s 200 not out off 147 balls, helped India pile on a mammoth 401 for 3 in 50 overs. The Indian bowlers then bundled out the South Africans for 248 in 42.5 overs to win the second one-dayer by 153 runs and clinch the three-match series 2-0. With this win, not only did India make sure that they can’t lose the series but also ensured that there was no threat to their status of the number 2 team in ODI cricket.

Every Indian batsman, except for Virender Sehwag, scored runs after MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first. Dinesh Karthik (79 off 85 balls), MS Dhoni (68 not out off 35 balls) and Yusuf Pathan (36 off 23 balls), all contributed to the total of 401 but it was a day when even they couldn’t deny the master his moment of glory.

Sachin, 36, literally toyed around with the South African bowling. For all these years, fatigue, cramps and paucity of time has stood in the way of batsmen crossing the 200-run mark. Sachin, too, did start cramping up once he reached 150 but he decided not to go for the runner. He eventually batted through the innings, which in itself is an achievement for someone who is supposed to be getting “old”! There were no chances offered, no dropped catches, and no wrong decisions in his favour. It was just an absolutely flawless innings!

The capacity crowd at Captain Roop Singh Stadium not only witnessed the Master at his best but they also witnessed one of the best innings ever played in ODI cricket. Tendulkar’s epic 147-ball knock was studded with 25 fours and three sixes.

In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar, and to say that he acknowledged his feat modestly would be the understatement of the century! His muted celebration on going past 194, where he didn’t raise his bat, just shook hands with Mark Boucher and carried on with his innings, made his achievement all the more endearing.

Charl Langveldt then went into the history books as the bowler of whose bowling the 200^th run was scored. Tendulkar steered the pacer to the off side to get to the magical figure as the packed stadium went into a frenzy.

In reply, South Africa couldn’t replicate their 434-run chase against Australia. They seemed too shaken, mentally and physically, after the assault and with the exception of AB De Villiers, who scored a fighting 114 not out, no South African batsman showed any resistance. De Villier’s unbeaten 101-ball knock had 13 fours and two sixes in it.

S Sreesanth was the most successful bowler for India with figures of 3 for 49.

It was all, however, reduced to a footnote as Tendulkar made history.

Match Summary:

India 401 for 3 (Tendulkar 200*, Karthik 79, Dhoni 68*) beat South Africa 248 (de Villiers 114, Sreesanth 3-49, Pathan 2-37) by 153 runs

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

“So many runs needed by their (SA) tailenders and you don’t expect your best bowlers to concede so many runs (at the death). The bowlers need to do better in remaining matches,” Dhoni said after the cliffhanger of a contest. “In the initial overs (of South African innings) also, the bowlers could have done better.”

Dhoni also lavished praise on all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his fine performance with both bat and ball. “Virender Sehwag could not bowl and we were short of a bowler. But Yusuf Pathan bowled well and Ravindra Jadeja was the difference today. He bowled and batted well,” said Dhoni.

He also felt that his batsmen got the starts but failed to convert them into big scores. “Most of batsmen got the starts but failed to convert them except for Suresh Raina, Sehwag and (Dinesh) Karthik. We thought we would cross 300 but we could not,” he said.

Dhoni said South Africa will come back at them all guns blazing in the next match and his side will have to keep the winning momentum going. “Both are good sides and they can bounce back. But it will be a very good and tightly contested series,” said the home team captain.

South African captain Jacques Kallis conceded it was frustrating for his side to have lost the match by a mere run but would have to regroup for the next match. “Full credit to Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn for taking us so close (to winning) but it finally did not happen. It is frustrating that we lost after it was so close. But we have to regroup for the next match,” he said.

Despite the loss, Kallis said he was happy with his side’s performance. “I am happy with our performance. We thought India would score 300-plus but we bowled well at the death and then we were almost through while chasing. So it was a really good day of cricket overall,” said the visiting captain.

Man of the match Ravindra Jadeja said he stuck to the basics while bowling and it paid off. “I was not thinking of trying anything new. I was just trying to concentrate to stick to the basics and bowl stump to stump and no loose balls,” said the youngster who scored a 20-ball 22 and took 2-29 from his 10 overs.

Asked how he focused on his game after he was recently banned for one year by the Indian Premier League, he said, “I was trying to focus on cricket. I was concentrating on the Duleep Trophy and this ODI series.”

The game seemed all but over for the Proteas when skipper Jacques Kallis fell in the 43^rd over with South Africa requiring 74 from 43 balls and only two wickets in hand. But Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell led a strong fightback to take the Proteas within touching distance of a win.

Steyn (35 off 19 balls) and Parnell (49 off 47 balls) added 65 runs for the ninth wicket off just 38 balls and the partnership nearly did the trick. The tourists needed 10 to win off the final over to be bowled by Praveen Kumar. Dale Steyn fell on the second ball of the over and South Africa eventually needed four to win off the final ball.

There was more drama when Praveen Kumar bowled a wide delivery which beat Parnell’s bat and the security people stormed into the ground, thinking that India had won, only to realise that the ball has been signaled a wide. Praveen then re-bowled the final delivery, which Parnell edged to third man, and the batsman went for a desperate second run to tie the match but Dhoni completed a brilliant run out as South Africa were bowled out for 297, just one run short of India’s 298 for 9.

Left-arm spinner, Ravindra Jadeja, was the pick of the Indian bowlers, finishing with figures of 2 for 29 off his 10 overs. South African skipper, Jacques Kallis, who had claimed three Indian wickets for 29 runs from his seven tight overs, top-scored for South Africa with a 97-ball 89 — his 75th half-century.

Earlier, after being put into bat, India, riding on cameos from Virender Sehwag (46), Dinesh Karthik (44), Virat Kohli (31) and a fluent half-century by Suresh Raina (58), posted 298 for 9 off their 50 overs.

Match Summary:

India 298 for 9 (Raina 58, Sehwag 46, Karthik 44, Kallis 3-29) beat South Africa 297 (Kallis 89, Parnell 49, Jadeja 2-29) by one run

Man of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja

Dhoni said that the post-tea session on the opening day of the game, in which India scalped seven South African wickets, tilted the game in his team’s favour and even though the side was missing Zaheer Khan, who had strained a leg muscle, on the final day, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra stepped up and shouldered the extra responsibilty.

“The bowlers were really great. The wicket did nothing on the first day. It was not a turner as such but Mishy (Mishra) and Bhajji (Harbhajan) bowled really well,” Dhoni said. “Today, we didn’t have Zaheer and the bowlers bowled really well. We had lost one day’s play and today we did not have Zaheer. We desperately wanted to be on the winning side because of the amount of effort that the three bowlers put in today,” he said.

“Mishra bowled really well. It was good to see Ishant (Sharma) bowling with rhythm and pace and bowling in right areas. Bhajji too was brilliant. There is so much pressure on him ever since Anil Kumble retired. Every time he walks out, people expect him to get 3-4 wickets,” Dhoni said.

The victory didn’t come easy for India as the last South African pair of Hashim Amla and Morne Morkel batted for close to 80 minutes and 20 overs before Harbhajan, who rediscovered his form in his happy hunting ground with eight crucial wickets, removed Morkel to trigger off euphoria across the Eden Gardens.

Harbhajan said with time running out, he had his heart in his mouth. “The heart was pumping. I’m very happy. Today we bowled with just three bowlers but we have done the job. Eden has been special to me. I don’t know what it is but I have done well here always,” he said.

“We wanted to remain at the top of the table. We know we have got the players and the team to remain the number one side,” said the offie, who opted out of the first two ODIs against South Africa to attend his sister’s marriage. “By the time I return to the side for the third and final match, we should have won the series 2-0,” he quipped.

India’s batting genius, Sachin Tendulkar, also cherished the moment and saluted the bowlers for their never-say-die spirit. “It was a good Test and good to see the scoreboard saying that we remain the number one Test team,” said Sachin, who notched up his 47th Test ton in this match. “Our seamers did a decent job on day one. But it was Harbhajan’s three wickets in the final session that made a lot of difference and then Zaheer claimed a couple. They set up a good platform for us.”

Unlike Harbhajan, Tendulkar said he was confident that South Africa would not be able to save the match. “No match is over till the last ball is bowled. I knew it was just a matter of getting enough bowl in the right areas. After all, we needed just one wicket,” Tendulkar said.

Although India won the match, nobody would ever forget the marathon effort of Hashim Amla, who batted for more than 8 hours to score an unbeaten 127, his second century in the match.  ”I’m tired and disappointed we lost the match,” said a weary Amla whose 394-ball vigil went in vain.

“Me and Morne were just having some fun out there. He played really well and so did (Wayne) Parnell earlier. Fortunately, Morne and Parnell are decent batsmen and took lots of pressure of me,” said the right-hander, who got centuries in both the innings to bag the Man of the Match award.

“I am just grateful that I have had a good tour. Unfortunately we lost. It was a very good wicket and we could have saved it. There wasn’t anything unplayable from the wicket,” said Amla, who was also adjudged Man of the Series for scoring 490 runs in the two-match series.

Proteas skipper Graeme Smith felt his team should have batted better in the first essay and held their catches. “We should have batted better in the first innings. We then came and dropped a few catches. The pitch (here) was still good,” he said.

Lavishing praise on Amla, he said, “He has been outstanding through the series. He is become our glue at number three. I don’t think any of us have seen him play better. He has a calm mind and has been working very hard.”

“If I don’t do well you will show me as one of the ‘3 Idiots’. It is a shame and it should not be done. You show Mahendra Singh Dhoni as another of the ‘3 idiots’. That is not right, I know it sounds funny but it is not,” said Harbhajan.

“I have been hearing a lot of things from the media but today they were on the receiving end. They (media) should be getting that kind of treatment because they should know what to play on national television and what not to play,” he added.

Asked about his celebration in front of the press enclosure after clinching the last wicket and completing the win for India, the feisty off-spinner said he was angry at the media for picking on him whenever he had a lean phase.

“Thanks to all the media, they create sensations that Bhajji is not bowling well, that Bhajji is doing this, doing that. We play for our country with a lot of passion and it disappoints all the players sometimes to see what characters they make out of us,” Harbhajan said.

“But if that is the way you want to sell your programmes we are not worried about that. I was there for a bigger purpose, I was playing for my country which was more than anything for me. I won a game for my country and that is a special feeling and I am sure the whole country is happy today,” said Harbhajan who finished with five for 59 to give India a dramatic win.

Bhajji was also not pleased with the section of the media which has been saying that India’s Test number one status was a fluke. “There has been a lot of talk about us that it was a fluke to be the number one side and all that. It was not a fluke at all, we have worked really hard to reach the top and today we have shown the world that we deserve to be number one,” he said.

Harbhajan, however, was all praise for the South Africans for putting up a tough fight in the series. “To be honest, South Africa is a really good side and they played fantastic cricket in Nagpur. We played better cricket here and we set our fields, bowled according to the fields and we created pressure. We batted well, (VVS) Laxman was special, (MS) Dhoni was brilliant, Sachin (Tendulkar) was amazing and so was Viru (Virender Sehwag). I think overall we played terrific cricket and we are very happy,” said the off-spinner.

India, who needed seven wickets on the final day to win the game, were made to work hard for every wicket and it wasn’t until the fag end of the day that they had their moment of glory as Hashim Amla, scoring his third consecutive hundred and probably the best among the three, almost carried South Africa home with a heroic effort. Amla stayed at the crease for more than 8 hours in his innings of 127 not out during which he faced 394 deliveries.

India just couldn’t get Amla out. So, they did the clever thing of not even trying to! India, taking the field with just three bowlers with Zaheer Khan pulling a leg muscle before the beginning of the day, led by Harbhajan Singh, found a way around Amla, leaving him stranded at one end. With just 9 mandatory balls to be bowled, Harbhajan Singh trapped Morne Morkel, who had resisted for 76-minutes with Amla, with a slider that went straight-on and hit Morkel right in front of the wickets. As the finger went up, the capacity Eden crowd erupted in thunderous applause and the Indian team tried to catch hold of Harbhajan, who almost ran all the way back to Punjab in his victory lap!

It didn’t come easy for India and one has to give it to them for showing immense fighting spirit. The Indian bowlers, who have often been accused of not being good enough to retain the No. 1 ranking for India, bowled their hearts out. Spinners Harbhajan Singh (5/59) and Amit Mishra (3/84) were the wreckers-in-chief as they ripped through the South African middle order but it was the spirited resistance from Amla and the tail-enders that delayed the victory. The last three South African wickets batted out 53.3 overs and it was only the never-say-die attitude of the Indian bowlers that got them home.

But among all the carnage, one man stood defiant. He was out on a mission to reclaim the No. 1 spot for his team. The 8 hours and 19 minutes that he spent at the wicket during this innings took the total time that he has spent at the crease in this series to 23 hours and 22 minutes. Hashim Amla did all that he could to save the game for South Africa and only if he had got better support from the other end, he would have! It was a remarkable effort by Amla who not only notched up his 10th Test ton but showed amazing temperament and skill to negotiate the Indian bowlers on a fifth day Eden Gardens track.

Amla, however, achieved the rare feat of scoring centuries in all the innings he played in the series. He was deservedly named the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series.

India, on the other hand, showed a lot of character to bounce back the way they did. They lost in Nagpur by an innings inside four days. Coming to Kolkata, they had everything to lose. Luck clearly wasn’t on their side with weather playing spoilsport throughout the match, the fourth day almost washed out completely, and then losing their bowling spearhead on the final day.

If not anything else, with this win, India proved once and for all, that they deserve to be No. 1 team in test cricket.

Match Summary:

India 643 for 6 dec (Sehwag 165, Laxman 143*, Dhoni 132*, Tendulkar 106) beat South Africa 296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-90, Harbhajan 3-64) and 289 (Amla 127*, Harbhajan 5-59, Mishra 3-78) by an innings and 58 runs

Man of the Match: Hashim Amla

Man of the Series: Hashim Amla

South Africa’s Hashim Amla almost denied India the victory, batting for close to eight and a half hours and scoring his third consecutive century in the series, but the Indian spinners found a way around him and he was left stranded at one end while the wickets kept falling from the other. Harbhajan Singh completed another five-wicket haul at the Eden when he took the final wicket to fall, that of Morne Morkel with only 13 minutes of play remaining, and the crowd erupted into deafening noise.

Amla remained unbeaten on 127, batting wonderfully with the tail as the last three wickets batted out 53.3 overs to almost deny India the victory. The tourists were finally bowled out for 289 making India victorious by an innings and 58 runs.

Match Summary:

India 643 for 6 dec (Sehwag 165, Laxman 143*, Dhoni 132*, Tendulkar 106) beat South Africa 296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-90, Harbhajan 3-64) and 289 (Amla 127*, Harbhajan 5-59, Mishra 3-78) by an innings and 58 runs

Zaheer had pulled up a muscle in his right leg on the fourth day of the ongoing second test against South Africa and didn’t take the field on the final day.

BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said in a press statement on Thursday that Sreesanth will replace Zaheer in the ODI series against South Africa.

The three-match ODI series kicks off in Jaipur on Sunday with Gwalior (February 24) and Ahmedabad (February 27) hosting the other two ODIs.

Zaheer joins Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir in the injured list while Harbhajan Singh has opted out of the first two ODIs, citing personal reasons. Yuvraj has been ruled out of the series due to a wrist injury, while Gambhir is out with a groin injury.

Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, S Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra.