God, why did it take this long: Sachin after his 100th ton

An emotional Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday minced no words in expressing his passionate love for cricket but said that on completing his 100th international century, wondered why it took a long time coming.

Speaking about his years playing the sport and receiving almost every laurel possible for a player, Tendulkar said age has hardly stopped him. He however added that he questioned god after ending his quest for the landmark century. "When I reached (the) 100th 100, I looked at my bat and looked at the sky and asked god what wrong did I do, why did it take so long," he revealed.

Tendulkar took a little over a year to complete the feat, a first for any batsman in the history of the sport. His 100 came against Bangladesh in the recently concluded Asia Cup. He however did mention that it would be good for an Indian to break his record in the future. "If someone breaks my 100th 100 record I hope he is an Indian."

PTI3_25_2012_000050AAlso See : Photos : Sachin Tendulkar at a Press Conference in Mumbai Today 

The other star performer for India in Asia Cup - Virat Kohli - in fact had said earlier that he had been inspired by Tendulkar and that the veteran batsman has been a guiding force for the younger players in the team.

The team itself, according to Tendulkar, plays to win and not achieve records. "People have their opinions. I have never played for records. When we have team meetings, we discuss winning, not breaking records," he said.

© NDTV