Published on 12:00 AM, December 16, 2008

Sachin ton for Mumbaikars


Guiding India to victory with a four that also fetched him his 41st Test hundred, Sachin Tendulkar on Monday rated his knock in the first Test against England among his "very, very special" centuries.
"If the team wins the 100 becomes very, very special, so this is right among my special centuries," said Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten 103 to guide India to a six-wicket victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.
The Mumbai batsman hoped his feat would give some happiness to the people after the recent terror attacks in his city.
"What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate. Cricket cannot lessen whatever happened... I hope this 100 will give some amount of happiness to the people," he said.
"I dedicate this century to the people of Mumbai.
"I thank those who stood up to the terrorists and who made sure that they were captured or shot dead as the terrorists were many.
"I salute the NSG commandos, Taj hotel staff, police, public and everyone," he said paying rich tributes to the victims of recent terror attacks in Mumbai and saluted those who salvaged the lives of others.
Tendulkar said it was a very difficult track to bat on and that made the win all the more significant.
"The game-plan was to get opportunity for scoring more and more runs because the wicket was such and we could not be bogged down by that.
"This become a very, very special victory on a track where the ball was jumping awfully," he said.