VCA ground is lucky for
me, says Tendulkar

The Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium, in Nagpur, is a lucky ground for master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who notched his 28th Test hundred on Saturday to take the third place in the list of highest century makers.

"I think the VCA ground is lucky for me as I got a fine 179 against the West Indies (in 1995) and then I scored the second double century of my career against Zimbabwe in November 2000," Tendulkar told reporters after placing India in a comfortable position with a solid, unbeaten 137 on day 3 of the first Test against Zimbabwe.

Only Sunil Gavaskar, who has 34 hundreds, and Sir Donald Bradman (29) have scored more centuries in Test cricket than Tendulkar.

"Obviously I feel good scoring this century because batting on this wicket has been slightly tougher than the last time around. I would like to keep going till we get a good lead for our bowlers to bowl at," Tendulkar said, adding that a lead of 230 to 250 should be a good target to defend against Zimbabwe.

Asked why he did not play more attacking shots, Tendulkar said, "I did not feel the need to take the aerial route today; if need arises tomorrow, I will not hesitate to take chances and go after the bowling.

"As the ball was not coming on to the bat, it was a bit hard to go after the bowling. At times the ball kept very low forcing to keep us guessing all the time," he said.

Mail Cricket Editor