`Tougher obstacle was post-match presser after maiden ton`

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday took a walk down memory lane and recalled the experience of addressing a press conference as a 17-year-old after scoing his maiden ton, saying it was a tougher obstacle than getting to the landmark.

Tendulkar recently achieved the incredible feat of completing 100th international hundred but even the memory of his first ton, when he had scored a match-saving 119 not out against England in Manchester Test in 1990, is still very fresh in his mind. "First hundred ... I remember. I went in to bat when we were 118 for 4 or so down (actually 109 for 4). In my mind obviously I (thought) should try and stay not out, that was the need of the hour. We lost four wickets ... senior players were out. I got into a good partnership with Manoj Prabjakar (who made 67 not out)," Tendulkar recalled at a media interaction here. "I had to be careful in my shot selection and at the same time made sure to put away the balls that needed to. I batted with open mind. I remember, when I was 87 or 88, Angus Fraser bowled a bouncer and I ducked. It hit the back of my bat went to fine leg. I was glad it did not go to keeper. Tendulkar said he was eager to score his maiden ton, especially after missing out in New Zealand. "The previous one (century) that I missed in New Zealand (in Napier in February when he was out for 88) was on my mind. I did not want to miss my first 100 and before going in to bat I wanted to stay not out. "When I managed to do that but a tougher obstacle after that was when Madhav Mantri Sir, who was our manager at that time, came and told me ...you know there is a press conference. I had not attended a single press conference before that and did not know what to expect. "So I started asking sir (in Marathi) `Kaai Honaar`? ... what will happen? What are they going to do... do we need to do all that... and he said ...don`t worry, I will be there with you. I look back at all those things, and it has been a fantastic journey," he said. PTI