Sachin says Chennai ton is for Mumbai

Chennai: Sachin Tendulkar stroked his 41st Test century to help India record the fourth-highest successful run chase in test cricket and beat England by six wickets in a sensational match on Monday.

Tendulkar hit 103 not out - a century he said was "very, very special" and hoped will give some succour to victims of last month’s Mumbai terror attacks.

"If the team wins the 100 become very very special, so this is right among my special centuries," said Tendulkar, who hoped his feat would give some happiness to the people of the Mumbai.

"What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate. Cricket cannot lessen whatever happened. I hope this 100 will give some amount of happiness to the people," said the Master Blaster.

"I thank those who stood up to the terrorists and who made sure that they were captured or shot dead as the terrorists were many. I salute the NSG commandos, Taj Hotel staff, police, public and everyone," he said.

Tendulkar said it was a very difficult track to bat on and that made the win all the more significant. "The gameplan was to get opportunity for scoring more and more runs because the wicket was such and we could not be bogged down by that.

"This become a very very special victory on a track where the ball was jumping awfully," he said.

Tendulkar praised his teammates' contribution, saying: "the atmosphere in the dressing room was really very cheerful and that helped a lot too".

He also praised Yuvraj Singh, who partnered Tendulkar in a 163-run stand, saying: “he played like a champion."

Yuvraj said Tendulkar was his childhood hero. "It was a dream come true by playing alongside him. As a kid I would always dream to play with him in Tests and it happened today," said Yuvraj, who made a comeback to the Test team after almost eight months.

"I was told to play my natural game and I did just that. I played my natural game," said Yuvraj.