Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said on Friday that he would like to focus on one series at a time rather than thinking too far ahead including the World Cup that will be held in the sub-continent, next year.
"I am not yet thinking about the tour of South Africa and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. My immediate focus is on the upcoming New Zealand series and only when that is over, I will start talking about South Africa," Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a function that marked his association as a brand ambassador with a high-end watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet.
However, Tendulkar admitted that he would be happy if India can maintain the winning momentum in the coming series.
"The momentum is with us right now and we should not let it go. We are not taking anything for granted and want to be on our toes. We would be looking to keep on producing competitive cricket and stick to the basics."
When asked whether he is currently enjoying the form of his life, the iconic batsman who recently completed 14,000 Test runs said that although he is happy but he is still not satisfied.
"There is always room for improvement. I am happy with my current performance but not satisfied. I want to get better. In fact, in any profession one must strive to get better and better," said Tendulkar, adding, "I always want to remain a student of the game because that is when you grasp more and is always keen to improve."
The 37-year-old, who had one of the most fruitful years of his career in 2010 as he won his first ICC's Player of the Year Award and returned to the top of the world batting rankings for the first time since 2002.
In February, he scored centuries in successive Tests against South Africa before becoming the first man to reach 200 in an ODI against the same opponents.
When asked what all has remained in his wish list which he still want to achieve, Tendulkar said, "There is no wish list. I play because I always love playing cricket. The only thing I ever wanted to do was to play for my country.
"Now, my track is only cricket, where a lot of stations come and I cherish arriving at all of them. But I personally just want to do something for my country and go on playing. In this journey I want to achieve whatever I can till the time remains," said the man, who remains just one short of scoring 50 Test centuries.
"It was a fantastic win the Test series against Australia. In fact, it was great to see some guys produced special cricket. (VVS) Laxman is definitely one such special guy, who snatched the victory for us. He was struggling to even jog as he was injured but he went out there and produced such a brilliant innings.
"Even Ishant Sharma, who shared a valuable partnership with him must get a lot of credit. I am extremely glad that we stuck to our No 1 position in Tests."
Talking about the ICC award that he finally bagged this year by beating South African Hashim Amla, England's Graeme Swann and teammate Virender Sehwag, the Mumbaikar said, "Whenever an award comes it always feels good."
He further added, "But no one plays for awards. You always set goals and want to achieve those goals as individuals. And in cricket you always want to achieve goals as an individual and as a team.
"And when you succeed in achieving your goal and get appreciated for your efforts it always feels good."
The cricketer, who was conferred with the Indian Air Force's honorary rank of Group Captain to honour his sporting achievements and contribution to the nation last month, said that "it was a great honour."
"Becoming the group captain with the Indian Air Force was a great honour. It is extremely special because I am associated with a force who protect us. I salute them."
"I am not yet thinking about the tour of South Africa and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. My immediate focus is on the upcoming New Zealand series and only when that is over, I will start talking about South Africa," Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a function that marked his association as a brand ambassador with a high-end watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet.
However, Tendulkar admitted that he would be happy if India can maintain the winning momentum in the coming series.
"The momentum is with us right now and we should not let it go. We are not taking anything for granted and want to be on our toes. We would be looking to keep on producing competitive cricket and stick to the basics."
When asked whether he is currently enjoying the form of his life, the iconic batsman who recently completed 14,000 Test runs said that although he is happy but he is still not satisfied.
"There is always room for improvement. I am happy with my current performance but not satisfied. I want to get better. In fact, in any profession one must strive to get better and better," said Tendulkar, adding, "I always want to remain a student of the game because that is when you grasp more and is always keen to improve."
The 37-year-old, who had one of the most fruitful years of his career in 2010 as he won his first ICC's Player of the Year Award and returned to the top of the world batting rankings for the first time since 2002.
In February, he scored centuries in successive Tests against South Africa before becoming the first man to reach 200 in an ODI against the same opponents.
When asked what all has remained in his wish list which he still want to achieve, Tendulkar said, "There is no wish list. I play because I always love playing cricket. The only thing I ever wanted to do was to play for my country.
"Now, my track is only cricket, where a lot of stations come and I cherish arriving at all of them. But I personally just want to do something for my country and go on playing. In this journey I want to achieve whatever I can till the time remains," said the man, who remains just one short of scoring 50 Test centuries.
"It was a fantastic win the Test series against Australia. In fact, it was great to see some guys produced special cricket. (VVS) Laxman is definitely one such special guy, who snatched the victory for us. He was struggling to even jog as he was injured but he went out there and produced such a brilliant innings.
"Even Ishant Sharma, who shared a valuable partnership with him must get a lot of credit. I am extremely glad that we stuck to our No 1 position in Tests."
Talking about the ICC award that he finally bagged this year by beating South African Hashim Amla, England's Graeme Swann and teammate Virender Sehwag, the Mumbaikar said, "Whenever an award comes it always feels good."
He further added, "But no one plays for awards. You always set goals and want to achieve those goals as individuals. And in cricket you always want to achieve goals as an individual and as a team.
"And when you succeed in achieving your goal and get appreciated for your efforts it always feels good."
The cricketer, who was conferred with the Indian Air Force's honorary rank of Group Captain to honour his sporting achievements and contribution to the nation last month, said that "it was a great honour."
"Becoming the group captain with the Indian Air Force was a great honour. It is extremely special because I am associated with a force who protect us. I salute them."
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