Speaking to the media on the eve of his 400th one-dayer, the Mumbaikar, however, singled out the Hero Cup semifinal against South Africa in Kolkata in 1994 as a special game.

With South Africa needing just five runs from the last over and with Brian McMillan at the crease, the maestro took the ball from his captain Mohammad Azharuddin's hands to bowl that crucial over. He gave away just three runs and India were in the final.

"There have been lots of one-dayers that have been quite memorable in my career. Like the Hero Cup semifinal against South Africa in 1994 when I bowled the last over. That's very strong in my memory," said Tendulkar.

He also mentioned matches in Sharjah against Australia and New Zealand and the World Cup semifinal against Pakistan (in 2003 at Centurion) as a few of his memorable matches. "There have been quite a few like this and it's been a wonderful experience so far," added Tendulkar, who will be joining Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya as only the second player to complete the 400-mark. Expectedly, the right-hander said he would consider his 400th match as any other match. "I am feeling good that it's my 400th one-dayer but for me it's just going to be another match, that's how I look at it. My approach here will be the same as any other normal one-day match," he stated.

Tendulkar went on: "It (400) just happens to be a number and it's just a coincidence that it happens to be against Australia. It could have been against any other country. I treat all the games the same way and my preparations are the same. For me it's just another match.".

Unexpected question
But the master blaster would have least expected this one question from a television journalist. Tendulkar was told on his face that he had more lows than highs in his long and eventful career. "I think you have to go and check the records," he retorted before adding: "I think you are watching some other game."

On a ground where he had had a fair amount of success, Tendulkar hoped to do well and contribute to the team's success. "My effort will always be to score runs and contribute in the team's win. It won't be any different this time and any batsman who walks into bat will be thinking on the same lines. Yes, I have scored runs on this ground and it's been good to me," he said.