Sachin Tendulkar proved his detractors wrong with a telling performance today to give India a 1-0 lead in the best of 3 finals in the Commonwealth Bank Tri-series at Sydney.

The Indian bowling attack once again delivered to limit the Aussie line up to 239-8. In fact, they had taken 3 wickets and then again had them in some bother at 135-5 before Hussey combined with the lower order to give some semblance of respectability to the total. For me, the highlight was Harbhajan snapping up both Symonds and then Hayden, considering his running feud with them. This was revenge at it’s sweetest best. 

 When India batted, the start was ok enough, but then all of a sudden, Uthappa, Gambhir and Yuvraj departed. That however set the stage for the highlight of the match, a 123 run partnership between Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, who looks better and better with every outing.

Tendulkar, often criticised for not doing well while chasing a total, not batting well enough to facilitate an Indian victory, and other such allegations (the latest coming from Sanjay Manjrekar), this time left nothing to chance as he struck his 42nd ODI century, nurtured young Sharma, and also saw us home safely with 25 balls to spare. 

I really hope we are able to clean up the Aussies in Brisbane. It will be a fitting end to what has largely been an acrimonious tour, and will do our self confidence also a world of good.