I don't play to prove anyone wrong: Tendulkar

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar scored his first One-Day International hundred in Australia on Sunday as India beat the hosts in the first match of the best-of-three finals of the CB series at the Sydney Cricket Ground by six wickets.

The Little Master had not been in great form during the league phase of the triseries but came good as Australia set India a target of 240 runs and he guided the Indian run chase with ease after the visitors lost three quick wickets to be 87/3 from 50/0 at one stage.

But in the company of 20-year-old Rohit Sharma, Tendulkar added 123 runs for the fourth wicket to shut the world champions out of the first final.

After bagging the Man of the Match award for his 120-ball 117, Tendulkar pointed out that people can keep writing against him but he does not need to prove anything to them.

“I don't play to prove anyone wrong. There are so many guys who go on writing so many things but it doesn't mean that I have to go and prove them. I go and play cricket because it is my passion. I love to play for India. I grew up dreaming to play for India and that’s the reason I am playing. I don't play to prove anyone wrong,” Tendulkar said after the match.

He also gave full credit to Rohit for his knock of 66 runs.

“Rohit played a fabulous knock. I thought he was just terrific. He was calm composed and timed the ball well. Batting with him really helped me. He was hitting the occasional boundary and so was I. It was a good combination and it worked for both of us. I wanted to be there till the end because it was extremely important. If I stay there till the end then things would be easier because (as) a settled batsman it was important that I stayed. Rohit played some shots and that really helped. I had to take less risk,” he said.

He also made it clear that he had been thinking about scoring a hundred in Australia.

"Even I had been wanting to get a hundred here but somehow in the last series I missed a few. Well it is no better moment than today to score a hundred here," Tendulkar said.

"Considering it was the first final and we got them to only 239, it was important that we played well in the second half of the game. That’s what we did. It came at the right time and I am extremely pleased," he added.