With a fifth Test double hundred under his belt at 37, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said he has proved that age has got nothing to do with performance and people should just stop linking the two in his case.
Tendulkar scored a match-saving 203-run knock as India and Sri Lanka settled for a high-scoring draw in the second cricket Test here.
"I think as long as you are mentally strong and prepared to go through the grind, age does not really matter. I think everyone should just stop talking about the age factor. If I can score a double hundred at 37, I don't think age really matters," he said after being named the most stylish player of the match at the post-match presentation.
The veteran right-hander has 48 Test hundreds against his name and though his knock played a crucial role in saving the match for India, he chose to praise the contributions of debutant Suresh Raina (120) and opener Virender Sehwag (99).
"Suresh built an important partnership with me and all credit to him. And the start that Sehwag gave us was also crucial," he said.
India are 0-1 down in the series after losing the series-opener and Tendulkar said the team is desperate to latch on to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings which the visitors stand to lose if they go down 0-2.
"Being number one is important for us. We got here through a process and we hope to continue this process in the next match and win it," he said.