One of the best teams I’ve played in: Sachin

Tendulkar stacked up more statistics with his 44th ODI hundred — with 59 Man-of-the-Match awards and 14 Player-of-the-Series titles,he’s achieved the maximum acknowledgments. But,more importantly,Tendulkar proved that age is just a number on the field. “I don’t think age has any relevance here. Eventually,what you do is all that matters. How much you contribute is more important. I think the age factor is not of relevance. It is about contribution,” he said.

Tendulkar,however,rated his innings of 138 as one of his best. “I would definitely put this up the order because the conditions were very tough and the heat was such that it drained us out in the middle but we had to fight it out. So I would not hesitate if I have to rate this as one of my best ones,” he said.

Back into the ODI fold after a five-month hiatus,Tendulkar said that he was determined to stay put at the crease,even though the conditions were energy-sapping. “One had to be mentally tough. I knew it was going to be tough. I was prepared for that,to score you have to run. You have to be out for at least 40 overs or so. That was the plan. We kept changing the pace of the game,” he said. “I knew I had to play a longish innings here. It doesn’t matter even if there were a few dot balls,because we knew once we had put up a decent total,the pressure would be on the Lankans.”

Even though Team India have started the new season with a title,Tendulkar believed that the Champions Trophy in South Africa will be a different ball game altogether. “I think we have played in tougher conditions. In South Africa it will be higher altitude. So it is going to be different. But we will get some time to acclimatise and prepare ourselves accordingly,” he said.