Sachin in high spirits after team go ton-up

“I just tell them every time they see me they have to wish me ‘good morning, sir’,” he joked after his unbeaten 117 gave India a crucial 1-0 lead in the best-of-three finals against Australia in Sydney on Sunday.

“But we share our jokes and they are allowed to pull my leg as well. I’ve always been open and friendly and I crack jokes with them all the time,” he said.

Tendulkar insisted that he was not lonely in the dressing room. “I don’t know why people think like this. It is a team and once you are selected to play for India, nobody looks at your age. When I was 16, nobody would bowl slower to me — they would all have a go at me. When you cross the boundary line, only the performance counts,” he said.

Not just inside the dressing room and to his mates, Tendulkar can spread a few smiles even among the opposition player with his one-liners.

There was a quite flutter when a Brett Lee beamer clocked at 143 kmph landed bang on Tendulkar’s shoulder yesterday. That hurt for sure, and in a series as tense as this, the intentions of that delivery were being doubted.

But Tendulkar knew it was a genuine slip of fingers from Lee. When the bowler apologised, Tendulkar instantly brought a smile to his face. “All I told him was that when he comes to India to play IPL he’ll have to reply to my son, who is a big fan of his,” he said.

Pat for Rohit

Tendulkar was full of praise for Rohit Sharma, with whom he shared a match-winning stand of 123 runs.

“I’ve played a few games with Rohit but this was the first time that we had a long partnership. He was terrific, extremely calm and composed, which are his strengths. He’s got a tremendously wide range of shots and selects them well.”

There was praise in store for the leader of the unit as well. “Dhoni has done a terrific job as captain. The atmosphere in the dressing room is very good. I’m not saying that under Anil (Kumble) it wasn’t, but one-day cricket is fast-paced and everything looks exciting. In Tests you need to adjust according the situations and keep changing strategies. Both Anil and Dhoni have done a good job.”

Tendulkar admitted that in a best of three finals the gap between this and the next one is small, and that the timing of his knock couldn’t have been better. “The finals are a big occasion, and I’m extremely pleased. I don’t worry too much about criticism because people say a lot of things. Sometimes they talk because they have not been able to do certain things. My job is to play. I let them talk and keep quiet myself,” he said.

“To score a 100 in Australia was something I always wanted to do. To do it on a special occasion makes you feel even nicer. It’s going to be tough from here but we are all prepared,” he said.

Scoreboard

Australia vs India: Sydney, March 2

Australia:

A Gilchrist c Yuvraj b Kumar 7, M Hayden c Chawla b Harbhajan 82, R Ponting b Kumar 1, M Clarke c Dhoni b I Sharma 4, A Symonds c Kumar b Harbhajan 31, M Hussey run out 45, J Hopes c Dhoni b Yuvraj 15, B Hogg not out 23, B Lee c R Sharma b Pathan 17, M Johnson not out 6

Extras (b-1, w-7) 8

TOTAL (for 8 wkts): 239

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-19, 3-24, 4-124, 5-135, 6-173, 7-212, 8-231

Bowling: Kumar 10-1-49-2, I Sharma 8-0-32-1, Pathan 7-0-63-1, Harbhajan 10-0-38-2, Chawla 10-0-33-0, Yuvraj 4-0-18-1, Sharma 1-0-5-0

India:

R Uthappa c Hussey b Hopes 17, S Tendulkar not out 117, G Gambhir run out 3, Yuvraj Singh b Hogg 10, R Sharma b Hopes 66, MS Dhoni not out 15

Extras (b-4 lb-2 w-6 nb-2) 14

TOTAL (4 wickets; 45.5 overs): 242

Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-56, 3-87, 4-210

Bowling: Lee 9-0-33-0, Bracken 8-0-42-0, Johnson

10-0-70-0, Hopes 8.5-0-42-2, Hogg 7-0-38-1, Clarke 3-0-11-0

Result: India won by six wickets