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.

... contd.