 I am unfazed by criticism: Tendulkar
30th Jun 2007 22:15 IST
Agencies
An icing on the cake was reaching the personal milestone of 15,000 ODI runs, which no other batsman has reached so far, in the second match on Friday.
Tendulkar said his joy was two-fold since his knock gave the team victory and kept their hopes alive in the series.
"It is satisfying, a wonderful moment. After playing for 18 years, I feel it's just one of those things," said the batsman who now has a tally of 15,043 runs from 387 matches at an average of 44.24 with 41 hundreds.
"This match was extremely important for us, to keep alive the series. It's obviously a happy feeling, especially when we ended up on a winning note."
Tendulkar said retirement was the last thing in his mind at the moment.
"As long as the passion is there and as long as I enjoy getting out there on the park, I will keep doing it. At the moment, I'm enjoying it," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar was also dismissed in the 90s in the first game after being run out for 99. "If I could get to the 90s every time, I wouldn't mind," he quipped.
Captain Rahul Dravid paid rich tributes to Tendulkar.
"It's a phenomenal achievement, for someone who has played so long to be so consistent. It's incredible," he said.
"Not only do you need skill, you need a lot of mental strength and fortitude to do what he's done, to have that hunger over such a long period of time and go on scoring runs and find new challenges. I think he's achieved everything he ever wants to achieve in this game, but it's about motivating himself and trying to do his best for the team and ensure we win games. It's great!" he added. |
