Tendulkar fell in the 90s for the 15th time in his career

Tendulkar's 97 marked the sixth time this year he has been out in the 90s - only five players have topped that feat in their entire careers.

"I've fallen into the wrong habit and the more I think about it the more it's going to be a problem," he said.

"Most satisfying is that we've won the series and won the match."

India captain Mahendra Dhoni was disappointed Tendulkar missed out on his century.

"More than him we are feeling sad," he said. "He can even smile although he has missed seven hundreds this year.

"There are many who retire even without scoring seven in their career."

606: DEBATE It's only a little stat thing - it's not as if you can fault his performance Alan

Tendulkar got an inside edge onto his stumps off a delivery from Umar Gul after a sublime innings in Gwalior.

Extending his record with his 406th one-day international appearance, he still managed to gain his 56th man-of-the-match award.

But instead of a record-extending 42nd one-day century - which has eluded him since January - he fell just short again.

Last Thursday in Mohali Tendulkar was out for 99 for the third time this year. Only one other player - Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya - has suffered the fate more than once in his career.

Earlier in the match, Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf became just the eighth player ever to be left 99 not out in a one-dayer, when he could only score two off the final ball of the innings.