While most of the rest of his team-mates gathered in tiny little groups or engaged in friendly banter with the media, one man sat by himself at the Hobart airport on Wednesday morning, in full public view and with a wistful, distant look about him.

Maybe, he was reflecting on his long journey in international cricket, or relishing working his way back among the runs; maybe too, that at 34 pushing 35, he was weighing up the demands of constant travelling and spending months together away from the family.

Of course, in a public forum, Sachin Tendulkar can never be alone for too long. His contemplative state lasted no more than a couple of minutes before the autograph and photograph-seekers made a beeline. Not once did he make a face or display any sign that his space was being intruded into. He posed for pictures with a benevolent smile, and obliged numerous requests for autographs with humility and poise.

Not even 18 years of non-stop adulation bordering on worship has spoilt Tendulkar. Neither success nor unstinted approbation has gone to his head, nor have stinging words of criticism that have grown ever so strident in the last couple of years triggered ire. Through prolonged spells of serious run-scoring and sporadic bursts of falling short of his own lofty standards, the Mumbaikar has maintained a Zen-like equanimity, refraining from shouting from roof tops, happy to seek out the deafening sound of silence. His broad, heavy bat, however, hasn't stopped talking.

It hasn't been in Tendulkar's nature to hit out at critics. He might harbour a grouse because he too is but human; in public, though, he will never utter a word out of place. From a very early age, Tendulkar worked out that the best way to silence criticism was to score runs. Thankfully for Indian cricket, he has not deviated from his chosen path!

Repeatedly on this tour of Australia, Tendulkar has allowed the destructive master in him to surface often. His breathtaking batting during the first innings of each of the four Tests was a throwback to the days when, untouched by the myriad cares a long career necessarily brings with it, Tendulkar batted with carefree abandon, confident that he could make the ball do his bidding.

Passage of time

That the passage of time has done little to blunt the edge was showcased in exemplary fashion in clearly his last Test tour of Australia. Every outing was accompanied by a standing ovation from a Tendulkar-mad crowd; the little man did not disappoint them, producing one masterpiece after another.

The triangular series hasn't gone as well, the 34-year-old failing to cash in on starts. A mid-series slump yielded just seven runs from three innings. Mahendra Singh Dhoni called for his seniors to contribute more -- but not in a demanding, complaining way -- and Tendulkar responded to his captain's call on Tuesday with his most authoritative outing yet in the tri-series.

The knock came close on the heels of suggestions here in Australia and back home by experts that India -- and Tendulkar himself -- will be better served if he were to relinquish the opening slot in the one-day game. From the time he became an accidental opener on the tour of New Zealand in 1994, Tendulkar has been reluctant to go down the order, and with good reason too. Fewer than an eighth of his 41 limited-overs centuries have come when he hasn't opened, and India have won more games than they have lost when Tendulkar has hit a hundred.

Perhaps more determined to let the doomsday prophets know that there is fight in the old legs yet than make a point to his skipper, Tendulkar treated the smallest crowd of the one-day competition to vintage stuff. Without prowling around like a caged tiger, Tendulkar displayed a certain sense of purpose that suggested he was on a mission. Sri Lanka were at the receiving end of a wondrous innings of timing and power, of style and grace; Australia's turn will likely come in the week ahead.

Never mind 16,000 one-day runs and more than 400 matches, there is no denying that Tendulkar needed Tuesday's majestic 63 as much as the team did going into the best of three finals, just to keep the potential gremlins at bay. He may no longer single-handedly win as many games as earlier -- that is credit to the men alongside him, not a commentary on his diminishing importance -- but India, and the world, know just what damage a firing Tendulkar can inflict. Even now.