India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday said had it not been for milestone man Sachin Tendulkar's breathtaking 175 run knock, the hosts would have never come so close of a sensational victory against Australia in the fifth one-dayer.

Dhoni took the positives from the heart-breaking three-run loss and said without Tendulkar's heroic 141-ball innings, it would not have been possible to come so close to the mammoth 351 run target set by Australia.