It may not have been the greatest innings Tendulkar has played, it may not have been the best bowling attack, but it was special. Very special as he was to say later. He could not have given his father a better tribute than a hundred which the crowd at Bristol will cherish and Tendulkar will never forget. Accepting the Man of Match award, Sachin dedicated the innings to his father. ``Both were equally important occasions for me,'' he said commenting on his return to the World Cup by cutting short hismourning after his father's death.

Sachin's innings was one which may have given India the much-needed morale-booster dose that could inspire them to better things in the last two games of the group.

For India, beating Kenya may have not be in much doubt but the manner in which Tendulkar mauled the attack and Rahul Dravid nibbled at them was just the tonic they were in search of, the poor Kenyan attack not withstanding.

Interestingly, there was some confusion over where Sachin would figure in the batting order. In the morning, word was that he'd bat at number 3; just before the match began, it was changed to number four. It took the team management two defeats to change their mind and decide not to open with him.

At Leicester, Zimbabwean coach Dave Houghton had said on the eve of the match that, given the seaming conditions in England, he'd be happy to see Tendulkar open the innings ``as it gives my team the best chance to get him out.'' The Indian coach, Anshuman Gaekwad's reaction to this statementwas: ``Tendulkar will open in this tournament. We are not going to hide the world's best batsman in the middle.'' The defeat against Zimbabwe and Ramesh's good innings in Tendulkar's absence changed all that.

It was obvious that the little maestro was steeling himself to play an innings that would be a special tribute to his father. That he translated his dream into reality speaks of Tendulkar's will and resolve. It also speaks of his genius as a batsman.