The record everyone is obsessed with

The fact that more people turned out to watch a dead rubber in Mumbai than for the previous two Tests between India and West Indies proves that India is obsessed with Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international century, Deepak Narayanan writes in the Mumbai Mirror. Tendulkar himself, though, Narayanan says, is used to pressure and won't let it prevent him from reaching the landmark.

Tendulkar is no stranger to pressure. On the field, there’s the pressure to score runs, to pick up the odd important wicket, to be a superhuman cricketer who’s allowed very little room for error — for that’s his job. Off the field, the pressure to return every smile he spots, for not doing so would be considered rude; the pressure of measuring every word he speaks in public, because of how much weight they carry; the pressure to be absolutely perfect, because the country would accept no less from a man they believe is god.