Sachin Tendulkar ended all speculation by confirming his acceptance to Raj Singh Dungarpur, the president of BCCI.

Mr JY Lele had earlier telephoned Sachin's house, and the good tidings were recorded by Tendulkar's answering machine. The little genius first heard of his appointment when the recorded message duly informed him that, ``You have been named captain, congratulations!''

In a meeting with the press today, Sachin Tendulkar explained that he had not been mentally prepared to take on the captaincy prior to the announcement, and hence the reluctance. He surprised the gathering by saying that he expected Jadeja to be named captain. He quickly added, ``Now I have to mentally start preparing myself for the job. I hope things will fall into the right place.''

Talking about his past experiences as captain, Sachin said that leading the team was an instinctive thing. On his loss of form the last time he was captain, he said ``Performing better as a batsman is up to me, but performing better as a captain is up to the other ten players as well.'' Sachin averred that the captain was totally in charge on the field of play, and that it was up to the captain to tell his team what to do. Sachin added that each captain had his own style of operating and that he would concentrate on his strengths to attain the best results.

Tendulkar, having cleared the air about his attitude towards the Indian captaincy, looks all set to give it his all. He added that he looked forward to having Azharuddin as part of the team.

Tendulkar's commitment to the team and his passion for the game have never been in doubt. This was most evident when Sachin said ``I am definitely proud to lead the country. It is a great honour''