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Adelaide, Australia: Scoring centuries "isn't that important" for Sachin Tendulkar, whose 39th Test ton on the first day of the fourth Test against Australia yesterday filled a gap in his resume.
The century was Tendulkar's ninth against Australia and sixth on Australian soil but was his first on the Adelaide Oval - the home ground of Sir Donald Bradman for much of his first-class career.
Bradman, regarded as the game's greatest ever batsman, once said he saw in Tendulkar something of his youthful self and India's superstar batsman has never forgotten the compliment.
"I know that Adelaide hasn't been a great ground for me," Tendulkar said.
"It was good to get a big one here. It also happens to be Sir Don's home ground.
"When I was batting I was obviously not thinking of that, but it was good to get a hundred."
Big cracks
Tendulkar has not confirmed whether this will be his last Test in Australia but it is widely thought that, at 35, he is on his last tour of the country.
The crowd, mindful of that, welcomed him to the crease with a standing ovation and marked his century in similar fashion.
"The reception of the crowd was truly special, very moving," Tendulkar said. "I don't know, sometimes I need to look at the scoreboard to figure out if I'm batting 100 plus or batting on zero."
Tendulkar, 124 not out at stumps, realises his job is not yet done and that the first session today, with the second new ball only an over old, would be crucial to the outcome of the Test.
"In the first innings to put a big total on the board is the key," he said.
"If you look at the wicket there will be some big cracks there later in the match. So the first innings is very important and we want to score as many runs as we can tomorrow."
Tendulkar has enough centuries against his name to be dismissive of their importance, but acknowledged that "any hundred you get is a special one".
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