Sachin: Let others count the hundreds... let me go and bat

A superstitious Sachin Tendulkar said Friday that he does not wish to count his hundreds and prefers to leave it to others to keep a track of his centuries. Sachin’s 42nd Test century (160 in 400 minutes off 260 balls, 26x4) helped India take a 241-run lead in the opening Test.

The following are excerpts

On getting his 42nd century

It is always a good feeling. I think we are in a strong position now and that is what really matters to us. There is a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room. We sort of led from the front from the first session of this Test match, and at this point in time we are very much on our way to achieving some good things. We don’t want to take anything for granted. Tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) first session is going to be extremely important and we hope to go flat out.

His innings

I thought once the new ball was taken I started timing the ball much better and after that things were different. I was quite happy with the way I moved and found the middle of the bat more often. Every hundred is not going to be a fluent one and you are not going to play 100 balls out of 100 from the centre of the bat. That is what Test cricket is all about. There are days that you have to work harder than the other ones. I was prepared to wait for my chance to come and eventually when I found the centre of the bat consistently I thought I was playing a different game altogether.

The conditions

Yesterday initially it was a little difficult to get used to the pace and bounce of the wicket. It did take some time to find the centre of my bat. Later on it got better... I felt the contact was much better and that gave me lot of confidence.

If he was over-cautious in the morning session

When I saw the ball was there to be put away, I just did that. There was no plan as such. The only plan was to watch the ball as closely as possible.

The partnerships along the way

All partnerships are important. With Rahul it wasn’t big. But all those partnerships in between, from (VVS) Laxman to Harbhajan (Singh), were important because it was extremely crucial to put us 200-plus ahead of their total.

Missing a double hundred

I saw that there was no fielder at mid-wicket and square-leg. So I wanted to work the ball around there. Probably the ball was not there to be played to square leg.

On having scored 24 hundreds abroad

A hundred is a hundred. The last one I scored was in Chennai and was also a difficult one. The conditions were not in favour of the batsmen and I managed to pull it through and thought it was an extremely important hundred. On the last day of the Test match people couldn’t have asked for a better finish than that.

If he favours getting hundreds abroad

One knows the home conditions better than foreign ones. But eventually after being around for a while I know exactly when to pace my innings and back off a bit.

On who he wants to dedicate this innings

I would very much like to dedicate this hundred to tiger conservation because that is what the whole team had decided right from the start of this tour. I have also given a couple of messages. So I would dedicate this one to tiger conservation.

Hundred in back-to-back innings (163 retd hurt in the ODI followed by Friday’s 160)

Well I wouldn’t want to think about all those things… I’m a bit superstitious and let others count the hundreds… Let me go and bat.

If he was worried after Yuvraj’s dismissal

We have Dhoni, Harbhajan, and Zaheer. They have contributed in Tests before, so I was confident they would contribute. I didn’t think we had lost everything after Yuvraj was out.

No sixes during his 400-minute stay at the wicket

We are playing Test cricket. I didn’t want to. It’s a lot to do with the wind. I played accordingly in Christchurch and this match too. There were stages in this match where you had to be patient.

On getting a standing ovation

Maybe they all think it’s my last tour. I don’t know… I’m enjoying myself, it’s nice to have a standing ovation, at least I can tell my children I got a standing ovation.

The bowling

Initially it was difficult and they did bowl a good line and in good areas. You just got to respect and play out good spells. And that is what I did.

The controversial catch to dismiss Tim McIntosh off Zaheer Khan

I was 100 per cent confident that I had taken the catch. I have seen the replays and I have also seen my fingers under the ball. If the umpires were in doubt they would have definitely called for the third umpire. Sometimes on camera it looks different. But I was pretty much confident, otherwise I wouldn’t have appealed.

The finger injury sustained while taking the catch

It is fine. It is a bit sore right now. I am glad that I have not broken it.

Why is the dressing room atmosphere so good as said earlier?

I think Gary (Kirsten) is doing a great job. Along with Gary, the support staff — Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh, Paddy Upton, Nitin Patel and Mane kaka, as we call him — all have been doing a fantastic job. We are extremely happy that they are around, and their contribution has played a huge role. Gary has been terrific and has been instrumental in keeping the dressing room atmosphere lively. We’ve had some tough sessions in between, but he’s somebody who has not lost his cool, not lost his faith in his players, and that is extremely important, it’s a special quality.