Every ball the Australians bowled became a new note in the maestro’s symphony, and given the standing ovation and the admiration for that man, there shouldn’t be objections if the SCG is renamed Sachin’s Cricket Ground.

Perhaps, that would please Tendulkar as well, who is happy that Laxman got to keep his ‘Sultan of Sydney’ title.

“Let that Sultan of Sydney title be with Laxman, he’s played some brilliant knocks and he truly deserves every appreciation,” he says. “Yes the SCG is one of my favourite grounds, it’s one of those grounds where you walk in and you get a good feeling.”

Never before has an expression of celebration seen so many interpretations. When Tendulkar, with the bat and the helmet in each of his hands, jerked his arms in the air to gain maximum extension, he provided one answer each to questions of his nervous nineties, of not delivering when the team demands of him, of not playing match-winning innings, and unashamed queries of his retirement.

Tendulkar’s 243-ball knock with 14 boundaries and a six gave India an upper hand in the match—a skilful production, directed, edited, marketed by him alone. His effort at the crease was ‘dwarfed’ only by the 6’5” tall Ishant Sharma and that last wicket partnership of 31, of which Ishant scored 23.

Last year was cursed for Tendulkar, and his facial allergy in the last days of December only further reiterated his need to begin 2008 with a smiling face to show. “Yes, this knock today was a little different than others. Through the year 2007 from Ireland onwards I had missed a lot of hundreds, so it was extremely important beginning 2008 in a nice way,” he says, admitting that he was a touch nervous walking into the nineties with seven failed attempts in the recent past.

“Yes, Harbhajan was a calming influence for a change at the crease. When I entered the nineties, I didn’t look at the scoreboard at all. I was trying to get my mind pre-occupied by sharing an opinion on how I can take my partnership with Harbhajan Singh forward, and just wanted to focus on carrying the game ahead,” he says.

Tendulkar and Harbhajan put up a record eighth-wicket partnership against Australia, constituting 129 that forged India ahead of the opponent’s total. “I obviously had a lot of faith in Harbhajan’s batting, and he believes more than I do. So I just told him that this is the time to prove it, it’s the ideal situation and he didn’t disappoint,” he says.

Brett Lee didn’t take a minute in naming the number one bat in the world, but Tendulkar had to justify that with a big knock after his soft dismissals in the first Test where the Indian team went on their knees. “We believed in our abilities, kept saying that one bad match doesn’t mean we cannot bounce back, it’s a long and tough tour and it’s important to keep that faith,” he says.

India are up on their feet now, and that’s chiefly because of a little man of tall stature, who’s made the Australians, the best men in the world, bow to him.