Tendulkar scored 19 fours in his 139

He planned to limit his aggression until the final ten overs and it paid off as he and Vangipurappu Laxman put on 199 runs for the second wicket.

"I just wanted to hang around and it worked. Laxman kept rotating the strike," he added.

The 27-year-old is also within striking distance of taking 100 one-day wickets, having taken 98 going into the match.

But Tendulkar was not given a bowl as Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar took three wickets apiece.

He said: "I told Sourav (Ganguly) not to forget that I had 98 wickets. But he bowled and took a wicket."

Indian captain Ganguly was confident his side would come out on top after they had taken the first few wickets.

"It has been like that against Australia right through the series. We knew if we picked up wickets, we would be in control," he said.

Ganguly celebrates removing Steve Waugh

Australian skipper Steve Waugh defended his team's rotation policy after the defeat.

The visitors left out in-form opener Matthew Hayden, despite his contributions of 99 and 57 in the first two games.

But Waugh said: "That is how we're going. We are looking ahead at the World Cup and big matches.

"We believe in that and feel it will pay dividends in the long run," he added.