In 1998, a few days before his 25th birthday, Sachin Tendulkar played a blinder of an innings in Sharjah against Australia. And 10 years later, on the verge of his 35th birthday, the little master scored a quality century again as India won the first of the three-match finals in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series.

People had doubted Tendulkar's temperament while chasing. They said that he usually didn't score in a major final. And India had never won a match against Australia in Sydney, so not many people, including myself, were giving India a chance on Sunday.

Tendulkar almost single-handedly took India to the finishing line. He ensured that Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson did not get early wickets by playing straight and risk-free.

There were innovative strokes as well, and to Sachin's credit, the asking rate never went above six an over. Every time the rate was threatening to increase, he and Rohit Sharma scored boundaries to keep the rate down. Sachin must have been very pleased to get an ODI century today after a few scores in the 90s in 2007.
Rohit Sharma also played a great knock. It was as though Sachin was handing over the mantle to the youngster as tutor and pupil came together in a century partnership. The pair played well together, running the singles hard and talking to each other frequently. Sachin was literally guiding the youngster through the partnership.

This match showed that experience does play a part, even though the youngsters are doing their best. This was one opportunity where Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa could not get going.

Similarly, Irfan Pathan could do nothing right. But Harbhajan Singh, along with the find of the tour, Ishant Sharma, reduced the Aussie run-rate from six to a more reasonable five an over.