Sachin Tendulkar, who scored his 36th Test century, against Bangladesh in the first Test at Chittagong on Saturday, said he would dedicate this knock to his father, who passed away in 1999.
"I would dedicate this to my father as it was his eighth death anniversary," Tendulkar said at the end of day's play.
Tendulkar's father Ramesh had passed away in 1999 following a heart attack, forcing the master batsman to return home and miss the match against Zimbabwe at the 1999 World Cup.
On Saturday, the Mumbai batsman made 101 adding 189 runs for the fourth wicket Sourav Ganguly, who scored 100 on a rain-shortened day, when only 20 overs were possible as India reached 384 for 6.
"It is really good to get a century after a long time after 17 innings," said Tendulkar.
"It was important to score a hundred here. After South Africa have not played Test cricket for a long time. I was looking forward to playing here. The century has come at the right time. I am looking forward to playing such important innings."
Tendulkar's 36th century took a long time to come though.
This was one of Tendulkar's worst batting phases as he registered a century after 17 innings. His previous ton came against Sri Lanka in Delhi in December 2005, since then he has just made two half-centuries.
Tendulkar said a batsman must not be valued on how many centuries he has scored.
"Century is not the only thing. How you play is more important. The way I batted in South Africa I was happy. I had a couple of 60s and 70s. I didn't end up getting a 100 there. It does not mean I was not playing well. I was quite happy the way I batted in South Africa."
Twin centuries by the veteran duo were also witnessed by Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar and a few other Board officials, who came there on an invite by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
He also complimented Ganguly's knock and said it is a delight to be out there in the middle with his former captain
"It's always a pleasure. We have been together for so many years now. Sourav is a wonderful player. He knows how to take runs and it's a pleasure to bat with him.
"We enjoyed our innings. We had fun in the middle. The idea was that the mind does get bogged down. We basically remained focused and faced the balls. We tried to keep each other going. The conditions were tough. You have to encourage each other," Tendulkar added.
Tendulkar and Ganguly both got out to similar shots, attempting the pull, and could be blamed for throwing their wickets away in quick succession after completing their century. But Tendulkar said they fell in pursuit of some quick runs.
"No I had no point to prove. After so many years I have any point to prove. The plan was to score quick runs. The target was to achieve four and half to five runs an over. And I got out mistiming a ball. I played the way I wanted to play and the team wanted me to play," he said.
The Mumbai batsman also expressed his disappointment at the team's poor showing at the 2007 World Cup.
"We were disappointed at not having played well at the World Cup and not because people demonstrated. The ultimate dream was to go out there and play well. It did not happen and it was a huge disappointment."
He thanked his family and friends for helping him get over the disappointment.
"I think my family was always around. My close friends, brother, mother, wife and kids helped. The people close to me were disappointed too. Nobody wants to go out there and not perform, everyone wants to go out there and win. When it does not happen it is tough to overcome the disappointment."
The 34-year-old who leads the Test centurions lists said scoring centuries is satisfying, but he does not bat keeping records in mind.
"Scoring hundred is always satisfying as the team wants me to do well. And every batsman wants to go out there and score runs. Players don't play for the numbers; they go out to score runs. I am no different. It is quiet satisfying. We had big names. Have such great players as mentors. And they have set benchmarks and you set some for the next generation."
The master batsman said having some of the stature of Ravi Shastri as the cricket manager was a great boost for the team. His positive attitude had helped the team bounce back after the World Cup debacle.
"Shastri is a very positive player and person. It always helps to have a positive person. Ravi has been a great help as I know whet he expects from me and he knows what is to be expected from me. We have played cricket together. He has good cricketing brain," Tendulkar said.
