After making a hundredth hundred,during the mid-innings break, Tendulkar had explained to television commentator Ramiz Raja how he had not been able to get away from talk about his 100th hundred. "It's been a tough phase for me. I started off the season batting reasonably well. I was luckless. I am not playing only for my 100th hundred. It doesn't matter how many hundreds you score, you still put your head down, grind it out and do the job for the team.
"I was not thinking about the milestone, the media started all this; wherever I went, the restaurant, room service, everyone was talking about the 100th hundred. Nobody talked about my 99 hundreds. It became mentally tough for me because nobody talked about my 99 hundreds."
Tendulkar was able to joke about having finally achieved it, saying he had shed "50 kilos" with the 114 he made on Friday.
"The hundred was not the only thing on my mind. I was thinking about getting a good total for the team. When I looked at the scoreboard, I was looking at the run-rate and what we needed to do; I was avoiding looking at my personal score."
"After scoring 99 tons you are made to realise the value of a hundred. It's not easy, it was a testing period, but there were many people who helped me.
"There are opinions, some for some against. I don't read them, I have a job to do. Ups and downs are a part of life, there is no person who has not experienced it, and they teach you a lot in life.
"I am glad about the journey. It has tested my patience, my character. So many people have had questions, I don't read any of them. Somebody who has not gone through this will have only questions, not answers."
"When I consider retirement, don't worry, I will not hide it from anyone. I will play as long as I am enjoying it and as long as I can contribute to the team. I don't play for milestones; that is a perception created by a few members of the media. I play cricket because I enjoy it."
In the mid-innings break, when Ramiz asked Tendulkar what message he wanted to send to youngsters who witnessed him make history, Tendulkar said it was important to never give up on chasing your dreams. "Enjoy the game and chase your dreams," he said. "Dreams do come true. I had to wait for 22 years for India to win the World Cup."
During the post-match press conference he said,"I talk a lot about cricket with my brother. He has guided me throughout and this is something I want to dedicate to him. We have lived our dream together. Whenever I went in to bat I knew that mentally he was always there with me."
Aside from the hundredth hundred, when asked, he duly produced a list of favourites. Perth 1992, Chennai 2008, Manchester 1990, Chennai 1999, Sydney 2004 were his favourite Test innings, a comical bit of running with Anil Kumble that miraculously didn't end up in a run-out against Bangladesh in 2004 counted as his funniest on-field incident.
Answering the question about the list of great bowlers, he replied, "You need one ball to get out," he joked, "I can name at least 25 different bowlers."
