 Sachin Tendulkar has said that the century he hit against Sri Lanka in
the finals of the Compaq Cup tri-series was one of the best ever in his
career in the fifty overs format. Tendulkar scored 138 in 133 balls to propel
the Indians to a resounding win against Sri Lanka. It helped India to get to 319/5
in the fifty overs, and the hosts were restricted to 46 runs short of the target.
Given the conditions in Colombo, and on the field, it was very evident where
Sachin Tendulkar was coming from. There was very high humidity and heat
around, and the perspiration and cramps seemed to have got better of the maestro,
but he did well to rally around and bat till almost the very end to lead the
Indians to the aforementioned total.
He said, "This is one of my best innings. I will rate this up considering
the conditions and the ground, the humidity."
Tendulkar won another man of the match award in the process, his 59th of the
career. It also help him win a man of the series award - something that was
expected if India would go on to win the tournament.
Tendulkar also took a dig at those experts who believe that age should be the
sole criteria to judge a person's presence in the side. Tendulkar is 36, and
is in the 20th year of his career, after having begun playing cricket in November,
1989 against Pakistan. He said, "I think, more than age what really matters
is how much you are able to give to the game". Sanath Jayasuriya
is the other 40-year old in the game, who smashed a 98 in the previous league
match against India and scored 36 in the finals and gave the Lankans
a good start before getting out.
An excited Mahendra Singh Dhoni also said that despite the victory,
the Indians will have to learn from the mistakes they made in the tournament.
The fielding was clearly below-par and there were catches and run-out chances
missed. Virat Kohli missed a sitter from Jayasuriya earlier on, and then
Yusuf Pathan dropped a Kandamby catch at the most crucial of times to
let the Lankans loose. Dhoni himself was a culprit once, having missed a simple
run-out chance of Kandamby. India's next tournament is the Champions Trophy,
where they will face Australia, Pakistan and a second string West Indian side
in their group.
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