Sachin Tendulkar speaks about 2008
Sachin Tendulkar began 2008 in a blaze of glory, with a century in the Sydney Test, and ended it in glorious fashion, making an unconquered 103 to help India overhaul 387 in a stirring run chase in Chennai against England. The 35-year-old hogged the limelight all the way through last year, along the way playing a lead role in India’s triumph in the triangular series in Australia and supplanting Brian Lara as the highest run-scorer in Test history.In this chat with Deccan Herald, Tendulkar looks back at the year that was, among other things.

Excerpts:Both from a personal and team perspective, 2008 was quite a success, wasn’t it?

It was a good year. I was quite happy with the way the year has gone by, from a personal perspective. We have been able to achieve some good things and I have been a part of it. It feels nice. I am quite satisfied with how things have worked out. As a team, we have been able to achieve certain things and while doing so, I have been able to contribute. That makes it even more satisfying.

Your defining moment of last year?

Winning the tri-series in Australia. We beat Australia in the two finals. That would have to be the highlight, I would say. There are not many sides that have done that to Australia in Australia. Throughout the series, we were on top. Eventually, we lifted the trophy. It makes it truly special. From a personal point of view, in those two crucial games, the finals, I was able to contribute. That is very satisfying.

During that last-day hundred in Chennai, did memories of unfinished business against Pakistan in 1999 ever come back to you?

Somewhere in the back of my mind, it was there. Because that match against Pakistan which we lost hurt me so badly that it was obviously hard to forget. It was very much there in the back of my mind. This win did compensate a little bit for that loss. Looking at the timing and the way we played, it certainly makes me feel better. Yes, I would say it did compensate for 1999.

You were a central figure in the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds controversy.

What impact did the saga have on you and the team?

It just brought us all even closer. We were determined only to be focused on the game and not to focus on anything else. That is what we did. We didn't let the controversy affect us, and it showed. The very next Test in Perth, we won that game. We were rather determined to go out there and produce good cricket because so many people had come there to watch good cricket; we wanted to go out there and win. It meant a lot to us. The target was to win that Test match. We played hard, we fought hard and we won that Test match. Especially after what had happened, it was extremely important for cricket to leave all the controversies aside and make sure that the cricketers do something special to make people forget about all those things and get on with the game.

Tell us about the maturity and composure you have shown over the last 19 years. Does one have to be born with it or can it be learnt?

It's something you can learn, and I learnt it from my father. I learnt it in my family. It’s not that my father always told me what I needed to do and what I needed to say. Just observing my father closely, the way he handled situations, it taught me a lot. Now it's there in me, I know that. I learnt everything from him and it has made a huge difference. My father was a huge guiding force. Not only my cricketing problems, but all his cousins, my cousins, everyone... if anyone had any problem, they would just walk up to him and look for advise. He was a major force in the family and everyone relied heavily on him.

Have you ever reflected on the kind of impact you have made on the cricketing world?

No, to be honest, I don't know how much impact I have made. I know people love me, they like me. It has been terrific. I have been extremely fortunate and God has been very, very kind. But about the impact on the next generation or generally among the people, I really don't know how much. I know people like me and are around me; all that feels great, obviously. It feels even better when people appreciate your performances. But I have not really taken aside some time to think about all these things. I have just gone with flow and tried to be as natural and normal as possible. Whatever I have done for a number of years was only because I felt I should deal with a particular situation in that manner, and people have liked me for that. I have not made any special effort to change myself to be different or something. In short, I don't know how much impact I have made!

The Sri Lanka Test series was one of the rare failures for the team and for yourself...

That tour was a close tour, according to me. The decisive third Test was a pretty tightly fought Test to an extent. In the middle part, Ishant got injured, then I got injured. I thought we were very much on track and then it gradually started to slip away due to various reasons including injury. We lost 2-1. It wasn't as bad as it was made out to be. Barring a couple of guys, we obviously didn't get enough runs, and that will happen if you have players playing for such a long time. But that's fine. It made us even more determined to do better in the next series.

Post Sri Lanka, all the talk was about the Fab Four...

It's probably a trend to talk about age. If we can focus on performances and nothing else, that is how it should be, according to me. If somebody is performing, that’s good. Because it was again the same Fab Four, as they say, that played against Australia. We won that series. There was one change from the Fab Four against England (following Ganguly’s retirement), and we won that series too. People only remember those things which they want to remember!

Your impressions of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the skipper?

He is a balanced guy, he has shown tremendous character. He is calm, and he handles situations very well. He is a good student of the game, I picked that quite early in his career when I used to be in the slips and he used to discuss various things. I knew that he was talking differently compared to many other players. I felt he was pretty capable of managing various situations. He has lived up to the expectations. It's nice to see that he is calm and composed and through the good times and the bad times, he has been quite balanced. I feel he is doing a good job.

India haven’t won a Test series in New Zealand for over three decades now...

I am sure that would be our target. Our target would be to go out there and play good cricket. I know that if we do that, we would have done a good job. We don't want to chase victories. We want to focus more on playing good cricket. The process that we have all been following — we want to chase that. If we can manage to catch up with that, then the rest will follow. It's not only about winning, it's also about how we get there. We want to be more focused on how we get there. It will happen provided we follow our processes. That is where the focus would be.