Tendulkar relieved to get 100th century and move on

DHAKA (Reuters) - Sachin Tendulkar said on Saturday that the hardest period of his life was over after the batsman scored his 100th international century, just over a year since he got his 99th.

Tendulkar, who had gone 33 innings without scoring an international ton since chalking up 111 in a World Cup group match against South Africa last March, claimed his 100th century when he hit 114 off 147 balls against Bangladesh on Friday.

"I have to admit I was relieved," he told reporters in Dhaka on Saturday. "This is now out of the way and I can start a new chapter.

"It was possibly the toughest phase of my life. There was so much hype and attention about the 100th hundred.

"I thought I possibly batted the best in my life over the last year and got close in a couple of games but I couldn't achieve that.

"There are no specific reasons for that; at times I was luckless. Sometimes you need to have luck on your side to cross the final hurdle."

Despite the 33 luckless innings Tendulkar was always confident of getting the century sooner or later.

"I knew it would come but it is important that you don't take things for granted and keep working the way you usually do," the 38-year-old said.

(Reporting by Azad Majumder; Editing by Tim Hart)