But Tendulkar knew it was a genuine slip of fingers from Lee. When the bowler apologised, Tendulkar instantly brought a smile to his face. “All I told him was that when he comes to India to play IPL he’ll have to reply to my son, who is a big fan of his,” he said.

Pat for Rohit

Tendulkar was full of praise for Rohit Sharma, with whom he shared a match-winning stand of 123 runs.

“I’ve played a few games with Rohit but this was the first time that we had a long partnership. He was terrific, extremely calm and composed, which are his strengths. He’s got a tremendously wide range of shots and selects them well.”

There was praise in store for the leader of the unit as well. “Dhoni has done a terrific job as captain. The atmosphere in the dressing room is very good. I’m not saying that under Anil (Kumble) it wasn’t, but one-day cricket is fast-paced and everything looks exciting. In Tests you need to adjust according the situations and keep changing strategies. Both Anil and Dhoni have done a good job.”

Tendulkar admitted that in a best of three finals the gap between this and the next one is small, and that the timing of his knock couldn’t have been better. “The finals are a big occasion, and I’m extremely pleased. I don’t worry too much about criticism because people say a lot of things. Sometimes they talk because they have not been able to do certain things. My job is to play. I let them talk and keep quiet myself,” he said.

... contd.