The god of cricket Sachin Tendulkar, who inspired generations of cricketers, fans, and other match officials with his spellbinding cricketing skills, turned 44 on Monday.

In his 25-year-long illustrious span of international cricket, Tendulkar made 15,921 in Tests and 18426 in ODIs.

Although his career was graced by 100 international centuries, the cherry on the cake was his 90s-run knocks that were lucky enough to propel the men-in-blue to victory.

Here are seven ODI matches, where Tendulkar fell short of hitting a ton but ended up swaying the match for India in flying colours.

India vs Pakistan – 14 January 1998

It was the first final match of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup at Dhaka when Tendulkar scored 95 runs for India, while chasing the 213 runs target given by Pakistan.

The legendary Indian started the innings elegantly as he put a 159-run partnership stand with the opener Sourav Ganguly. Tendulkar seemed to be in his best shape. He, however, lost his wicket to Shahid Afridi when he was on the verge of a century.

India won the match by eight wickets and Tendulkar was bestowed with the Man Of The Match (MOTM) title.

India vs Pakistan – 1 March 2003

Riding on a strokeful hundred by the opener Saeed Anwar, Pakistan reached a competitive total of 273 runs in the end of their innings in a pool game of the 2003 ICC World Cup.

Nonetheless, India had their reply in the shape of Sachin Tendulkar. The right-hander scored 98 runs off 145 balls with the help of a six and 12 boundaries.

Despite falling short of just two runs to make it a ton, Tendulkar’s play was inspiring enough to make India put a strong fight back.

India sealed the victory by six wickets and Tendulkar bagged MOTM to decorate his rich shelf of cricketing heroics.

India vs Sri Lanka – 10 March 2003

In another pool-stage match of the 2003 ICC World Cup, Tendulkar’s 90s-run knock did the magic as India clinched an easy win.

Sri Lankan off-spinner Aravinda de Silva halted Tendulkar’s juggernaut, dismissing him for 97 runs. However, it came very late as the Indian had already laid a strong foundation for his team and India managed to score 292 runs in their innings.

Indian pacers Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra plotted the Sri Lankan collapse to complete the triumph.

Pakistan vs India – 13 February 2006

Although it was classic-finisher MS Dhoni, who hit the winning boundary to help India beat Pakistan by five wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the brilliant start by Tendulkar was commendable.

Tendulkar played responsibly and slammed 95 runs after India suffered early blows. His innings brought India back to the course of victory and enlightened hopes for Indian fans.

England vs India – 24 August 2007

In the second ODI of the NatWest series, Tendulkar missed to hit a hundred by just one run.

England pacer Andrew Flintoff dismissed Tendulkar for 99 runs, though his daring-dos helped India pile up a well-built total of 329 runs.

India won the match by nine runs in a nail-biting contest against the hosts.

India vs Pakistan – 15 November 2007

It was again the arch-rivals Pakistan against whom Tendulkar missed a century but drove his team to the triumph through his charming 97-run knock.

Pakistan spearhead Umar Gul took the much-valued wicket of Tendulkar, who stood on the brink of his hundred.

India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the day-night match, here in Gwalior.

India vs Sri Lanka – 21 December 2009

Tendulkar, at 36, scored a strokeful 96-run knock to power India against Sri Lanka by seven wickets at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

He remained unbeaten in the end though he missed to hit a century knock courtesy a sheer misfortune as the winning runs (5) came from byes.