Chennai: Sachin Tendulkar led the run chase to take India to a famous victory on the final day of the first Test on Monday against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai scoring his 41st Test hundred and promptly dedicated it to Mumbai terror attack victims and security personnel who fought the Pakistan-trained terrorists.
Tendulkar remained unconquered on 103 as India won by six wickets as India successfully chased a daunting 387-run target, losing only four wickets as they scripted the fourth highest successful run chase in history of Test cricket and the highest on Indian soil.
Two other heroes for India were Yuvraj Singh, who proved his Test credentials with an unbeaten 85, and Virender Sehwag, whose blistering 83 runs off just 68 balls to set up the historic win.
"I think this is a very, very important hundred because I have always said if the team wins, the hundred becomes very, very special. To day this hundred is right among the top ones," said Tendulkar about his century.
Tendulkar, who is from Mumbai which was the scene of the dastardly terror strike in November, paid his tribute to all those who laid their lives battling the Pakistan-trained terrorists.
"What happened in Mumbai was extremely, extremely unfortunate and these hundreds and all these things will give certain amount of happiness to people but what has happened in Mumbai is very hard to recover. I would take this opportunity to thank everybody who actually stood up to this and made sure that the terrorists were captured and also killed. I would like to salute all those jawans, hotel staff and every body - the firemen, Navy, the NSG. It's been fantastic. Finally coming to cricket which is lesser thing compared to what has happened. I feel what we ever we can contribute in a small manner, we have been able to do that. We are with those people who have lost their dear ones," an emotional Tendulkar said.
Yuvraj, who partnered Tendulkar during the run chase, said his childhood dream had come true following the win.
"I was not happy the way first innings went and Sachin's said just play your natural game. So this was in my mind and I was playing my natural game. I just kept talking to him. Honestly my dream has come true. As a kid I just to dream when I saw him on screen and one day I am going to win a Test match along with him," Yuvraj said.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni credited Sehwag, Tendulkar and Yuvraj for the win.
"We raised our standards and we performed when it was really needed. The playmaker was Virender Sehwag as without his innings we would have been defending this Test match. Of course Sachin was brilliant and Yuvraj amazing," Dhoni said.
A dejected English skipper Kevin Pietersen said it was a tough loss to deal with.
"Ya definitely! It is a very, very bitter pill to swallow in our dressing roon. But both teams can be really very proud of the way we have gone in this Test match. To start the Test match cricket up again two weeks after the tragedy, it is a fair show on both sets of players," said Pietersen.
Meanwhile, Sehwag, who was chosen as the Man of the Match for his 83-run innings on Day IV that virtually shut England out of the match, credited Tendulkar with the win
"Yesterday I had said that if we play 80-90 overs we will easily win the game and Sachin and Yuvraj did that. This is Sachin's best innings I have ever seen. I remember we were playing against Pakistan here and we lost buy just 12 runs because Sachin got out and this time he made sure that he will stay till the end and finish the game," an elated Sehwag remarked.
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