Master Blaster Said One of my best innings

Sachin Tendulkar has rated his risk-free 138 against Sri Lanka in the final of the Compaq Cup as one of his best innings. His 44th one-day hundred propelled India to 319, which proved 46 runs too many for Sri Lanka.

"This is one of my best innings. I will rate this up considering the conditions and the ground, the humidity," Tendulkar said. His superbly paced innings fetched him his 59th Man-of-the-Match award besides helping him to yet another Man-of-the-Series award. It capped a successful return for Tendulkar, who had to miss the one-day series against West Indies earlier this year due to a finger injury.

Tendulkar, 36, is one of the two players to have more than 400 ODI caps; the other being 40-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya, who also had a good tournament, the highlight being a blazing 98 in Saturday's league game against India. Tendulkar said the performance of the veterans showed that a player's age isn't important. "I think, more than age what really matters is how much you are able to give to the game."

India's victory was only their fourth in ODI finals in 21 attempts since 2000, and their first trophy in Sri Lanka since 1998. MS Dhoni played his part in setting up the win with a brisk 56 after promoting himself to No. 3. "The victory is special," Dhoni said, "It feels great to win a trophy in Sri Lanka after such a long time. Being the second-placed team in world rankings we have to keep performing well to sustain the quality."