Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq heaped praise on India batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a brilliant 141 in the second One-Day International on Tuesday.

"There is no doubt about his talent. He is the best batsman in the world today," Inzamam said after his team beat India by 12 runs.

"He thoroughly deserves the honour of being the first to score 13,000 runs in one-dayers."

Despite Tendulkar's innings, Pakistan squared the series 1-1 after losing the first match at Karachi by five runs in a thrilling finale.

"The amount of hard work he's put in for this landmark is amazing. I don't think it's easy to achieve this milestone. It takes a long time to get there," said Inzamam, second on the all-time one-day list with 9,607 runs.

Inzamam described the pitch, on which Pakistan scored 329 for six and India replied with 317, as a batting paradise.

"I think the amount of runs scored on it are a clear indication that it was not a bad pitch to bat on," he said.

Tendulkar said his century would have carried greater value if his team had won.

"It wasn't an easy track to bat chasing a big total under lights," he told reporters.

"The ball stopped and came on slow. You had to be selective in your shots. Their bowlers did pretty well and pushed the ball through and made it difficult for us."

Tendulkar said that he was unaware that he had reached 13,000 till after he was dismissed in the 39th over,

The Indian also said he was happy to score a century in Pakistan, where he made his debut in 1989.

"I'm feeling very good being back in Pakistan. The hospitality is great and I'm enjoying it," he said.

Inzamam said that given 1339 runs had been scored in the first two matches, it is difficult to say what a safe score would be for any team in the remaining three games.

"The matches are going to be close and tough and our bowlers will have to bowl as well as they did today," he said.

"They're our strong point and have to play a decisive role in this series."

The one-dayers will be followed by a three-match Test series.