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At the post-match press conference on Thursday, Sachin Tendulkar was as fluent as he was on the field. Excerpts from the interaction:
On the start.
When you’re chasing 600-plus, it’s important to build partnerships as well as occupy the crease. And we could achieve both the targets. Now, we are in a good position. It was an important knock by Suresh Raina. He showed tremendous character.
On Raina’s knock.
I am very happy for him. Many guys doubted whether he was a good Test player . He has done well and I am very pleased. The way he batted was fantastic. All I told him was to enjoy the moment. ‘You have earned something special. This will always be the highlight of your career. You will have many more hundreds, you will achieve many more things in your life, but this will always be something special’.
On the wicket.
From a batsman’s point of view, it is the best in the world. It’s not result oriented. It’s a tough track to bowl on.
On UDRS.
I am not fully convinced. When we were here in 2008, I wasn’t convinced with many decisions. I would much rather go with ‘Hot Spot’ because that establishes the contact between bat and ball. It’s a better system. And if there is something else to go with that, then it would be better.
On not bettering his previous highest record?
People look at my records, not me. I would want to score as many runs as possible. Whenever it comes, it comes. It is never too late. I will keep trying, but that is not the end of the world to me. There are many more things to cricket and that is where the focus is.
On what keeps him going.
With age, you obviously change your thought process. You make decisions differently. I don’t think much has changed. You just get to know more about cricket. And learning process never stops. Everyday you learn. That is, if you are prepared to learn.
On threat to India’s No.1 rankings.
Who doesn’t want to be the No. 1 team in the world? But it’s not that we want to chase the ranking. We have had our goals earlier, discussed about it, and focussed on the process. We have to play good cricket, that’s what we need to focus on. Rankings will take care of themselves if you play good cricket
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