Legends of Sports

The entire world is waiting with bated breath in expectation of his coveted 50th Test ton but Sachin Tendulkar feels that in his illustrious career spanning over 21 years, there is lot more to talk about the game than a particular milestone. "There is much more to Test cricket than my 50th Test ton. This is not the only thing. I always focus on playing well for my country and presently I am focusing on winning the series against the New Zealand," Sachin said on the penultimate day of the second Test against New Zealand.

"I don't open the newspapers (to see what's written about me). I don't read them and you can see them hanging at the stand outside my hotel room. I focus on my game only. Last 21 years have been really special for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my joyful journey," said Tendulkar, who managed to score 13 runs in the first innings.Tendulkar said, on the fifth and final day on Tuesday, India would look to get New Zealand's remaining six wickets as early as possible.

"Our focus would be to get remaining six New Zealand wickets as early as possible before we start our chase. We had a crucial partnership between Harbhajan and Sreesanth which helped us a lot," said Tendulkar.Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in both Test and ODI cricket, also praised New Zealand's fighting abilities and said they are performing like a unit. When asked about the Test opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Tendulkar said, "both are world class players and performed consistently with the bat."

"They have on many occasions made things easier for middle-order. Everybody is chipping in and doing their bit whether it's the batsmen or bowlers," he said. Tendulkar also praised chief coach Gary Kirsten, who has proved to be a great man-manager and motivator and whose calmness in the dressing room has worked wonders for the team. "I am enjoying my time with Gary. His practice sessions are just fabulous as he gives you plenty of balls to play during nets. He has great amount of impact on the team," said the ICC cricketer of the year.