Johannesburg - Under-fire Cricket SA (CSA) boss Gerald Majola put aside a long-running bonus saga to congratulate Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Friday.
Tendulkar made his 100th one-day international century in an Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
Majola, meanwhile, faces the might of the CSA board in Johannesburg on Saturday when the provincial presidents meet to discuss a ministerial inquiry report which recommended he be suspended for 180 days.
"There isn't a cricketing fan in the world who hasn't been egging Sachin on to this landmark for the past year, ever since he scored century number 99 against the Proteas during last year's World Cup," Majola said in a statement.
"Scoring 100 centuries for your country is a momentous achievement and the fact that Ricky Ponting (71), our own Jacques Kallis (59) and Brian Lara (53) are the only other players to have made more than 50 international centuries puts it into a true perspective.
"Sachin has been the face of cricket for some two decades and what a wonderful role model he has become.
"He made his debut while our senior statesman, Nelson Mandela, was still in prison and the fact that he has always been present throughout our brief history since unity has made it easy for us to identify with him."