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	Sachin Tendulkar stands with the cup he has dreamed of holding for 24 years Associated Press Enlarge
Related Links Features : India's cup of joy overflows News : 'I couldn't control my tears of joy' News : 'India planned final for a year' Players/Officials: Gary Kirsten | Sachin Tendulkar Matches: India v Sri Lanka at Mumbai Series/Tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup Teams: India

After winning the World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar said he had achieved the

tendulkar wont going to stop here😛😛😛😛

one thing he had dreamt about when he started playing cricket. But he may not hang up his boots just yet. When asked about his retirement, Tendulkar deflected the question initially, before saying he saw no reason to change things as he was still enjoying the game.

"This is a moment to celebrate, not one to think about my future," Tendulkar told the ICC. "This is the reason I started playing cricket; to do something for the country. The process has been a long one, and I am still enjoying my game, so I don't see the reason to change anything."🥳🥳🥳🥳

Gary Kirsten, for whom the World Cup final was his last game as coach of India, also said he didn't think Tendulkar would stop here. "Sachin is the greatest sporting role model I've met in my life," Kirsten said. "He's had an incredible last three or four years, and he's enjoying his cricket even more. I don't think he is going to stop."🥳🥳🥳🥳

Tendulkar has had to wait till his sixth World Cup campaign to win the trophy, and when asked whether this was the final accolade he needed to complete his closet-full of achievements, he said it was in fact the first thing he wanted to achieve.

"As a young boy I dreamt of winning this trophy; that's where it all started. This is by far the best moment and it's the one I've been waiting for for 24 years. There have been heart-breaking losses; in past campaigns we lost in the semi-finals and finals. I never gave up because this was my dream and now the team has managed to win this cup for the nation."

After their victory on Saturday, the Indian team spent the night celebrating with their families and friends before going to Raj Bhavan on Sunday to meet the Indian president. But what Tendulkar is looking forward to is sharing the experience with the Indian public.

"The victory hasn't sunk in yet because I haven't faced the general crowd outside. I've just mingled around with my friends and family. We've been in a close unit behind a wall of security. We haven't had a chance to experience or share our joy with everyone else. That's a reaction I'm really looking forward to because I can imagine what it would be like. All I've seen is their reactions on the news channels and it's absolutely fascinating."

India have now achieved the two things Kirsten had planned on during his tenure as coach: winning the World Cup and attaining the No. 1 ranking in Tests, but he gave all the credit to his team.

"The players are the ones who have had to deal with the pressure and expectations," he said. "They've prepared hard and when they've had to make the plays and make the contributions under pressure they've done that."

The final at the Wankhede Stadium started with an odd incident where the toss had to be redone because the match referee had not heard Kumar Sangakkara's call. Dhoni thought he had won the toss initially, but Kirsten said they weren't too worried anyway.

"I didn't hear too much about what happened at the toss, but we just got on with it because we had already spoken about how we would face obstacles in the final. We would have batted first, but we felt confident after the Australia chase that it didn't matter whether we won or lost the toss. We would have liked to bat first and put up a big total, but cometh the hour cometh the man, and MS Dhoni left his big knock of the World Cup for the final."

While Dhoni, Tendulkar and Man-of-the-Tournament Yuvraj Singh have been the centre of attention after the win, India's campaign has had several heroes. Zaheer Khan finished as the joint-leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 21 scalps, and though his figures on Saturday were marred by an expensive last two overs, Kirsten acknowledged his opening spell of 5-3-6-1 played a key role in restricting Sri Lanka to a chaseable target.

"Zak's early spell was what kept them down to 270 despite a strong finish by them. We kept them anchored in their innings; they couldn't really get going. [Mahela] Jayawardene's incredible knock gave them some momentum and they did well to get to where they did. But we felt 270 was very gettable."

There has been much speculation about what Kirsten will do next, but, though he acknowledged he had been approached about the position of coach of the South African side, he said he would take a month or two off before making any decisions.

"I'm going to take some time off and spend some time with my family who haven't seen me in a while, and I'll decide on my future after one or two months. South Africa have approached me, but I've told them I'm not going to make any decisions just yet. I'm going to clear my mind for a while after this magnificent journey."

Sachin Tendulkar walked out of the changing room and gestured to Sudhir Gautam to come up. Gautam is the thin man with the shaven head - for the past few weeks adorned with a replica of the World Cup - and body covered in the Indian tri-colour. For at least half a decade now, Gautam has been Tendulkar's biggest fan, waving the Indian flag and blowing his conch shell at every venue Tendulkar plays. Today, Tendulkar decided to repay Gautam for his devotion.

No sooner had he realised that Tendulkar was calling, than Gautam jumped the electronic advertising hoarding and skipped up the 30-odd stairs on to the corridor of the Indian changing room. All through his short journey he screamed in delight. Tendulkar shook hands with him, then embraced him and finally asked one of his team-mates to get the World Cup trophy. Zaheer Khan brought the cup outside with utmost care and held it tight. Gautam almost snatched it out of his hands but Zaheer held on. Eventually Zaheer let go and Gautam lifted the Cup with both hands, screaming "India". Tendulkar could not help but smile; he started clapping and was joined by a few of his team-mates. The sweat on Tendulkar's face glistened under the floodlights, enhancing his joy of winning the World Cup .

It was a day when the common man felt he was part of something special, when the gap between fan and superstar was bridged, with Gautam becoming the envy of fellow fans as he freely slipped in and out of the most sought after place in India, the team's dressing room.

It was also a time for private moments. Dhoni held his wife Sakshi close to him; Virender Sehwag hugged his wife Aarti and son Aryavir; Ashish Nehra's wife wore a replica of his team shirt as she moved in and out of the dressing room. Gary Kirsten's wife Deborah joined the rest later. Yuvraj Singh, returning from the media conference, started dancing as he entered the dressing room. On his way inside, he had let out a scream of jubilation.

The tempo in the dressing room had remained positive through the day and by the time MS Dhoni hit his spectacular six over long on against Nuwan Kulasekara, it had become a well of joy. As soon as Tendulkar found a private moment with his wife, Anjali, he embraced her tightly. It was a poignant moment. He knew how much she had sacrificed to support him in his endeavours. On the field, during the victory celebrations, he had hugged Yuvraj Singh, the man of the World Cup. Yuvraj had already declared he had dedicated the victory to Tendulkar. Virat Kohli had delivered the line of the evening when he said that for 21 years Tendulkar had shouldered the dreams of a billion Indians. Today youngsters such as Kohli and Suresh Raina carried Tendulkar over their shoulders during the lap of honour. Tears came easily to Tendulkar then.

On their way to the team bus, the players got a loud round of applause from hundreds of cops, who turned themselves into fans for a few minutes by taking pictures. Some looked in awe at Tendulkar, who sat in the front seat with his wife sitting next to him. Both their kids sat on their laps. Some of the security people played with Sehwag's son, tapping on the window shield. When Yuvraj walked into the team bus with the trophy in hand, all the administrators and cops let him know how much they enjoyed his performances during the tournament. Gautam blowed his conch shell marking the departure of the bus. The cops yelled "Bharat mata ki, jai (long live India)".

	The streets of Mumbai were flooded with ecstatic fans Associated Press Enlarge

Unfortunately, there was no victory ride back to the team hotel unlike in 2007, when Dhoni had led India to victory in the World Twenty20. Also, disappointingly, the team hotel was out of bounds to the public. Barricades were put in place at all entry points leading up to the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in South Mumbai. The players had planned to celebrate the whole night and the Taj security did not want to take the chance of letting people inside.

It did not matter to the fans. Marine Drive, one of the city's most scenic spots, became party central. Fans celebrated by blowing horns, trumpets, whistling, screaming into megaphones, peeping out of open-air cars, sometimes even standing by holding on to the window doors, climbing atop water tankers while waving the flag and dancing. It was a complete carnival atmosphere and the traffic came to a standstill as fireworks lit up the sky for more than two hours. For the first two hours after the match ended, it was hard to find public transport. Even Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, was forced to leave the Wankhede on foot, walking along with thousands of others

In the Trident hotel, there were many Indian fans, who had come from the UK and were enjoying their beer while chanting stuff like "Ala la la. Ala la la. Let's all do some bhangra." The hotel's coffee shop, normally pretty vacant, was full. The fans were not disappointed. They continued singing India's praises when they spotted Sourav Ganguly. "Sourav, Sourav" gave way to "Ganguly, Ganguly."

It was the Taj Mahal Palace and the Trident that were part of the terrorist attacks on November 26, 2008. Today, they wore a happy look, as did the people of Mumbai. Both were dressed to party; Saturday night fever had taken over.

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