EXAMPLE: Dynamically select tab with index

I am getting this runtime error:

0x800a138f - Microsoft JScript runtime error: Unable to get value of the property 'select': object is null or undefined

This is the JS:
tab = $("#sysConfig");
        if (tab != null) { //safety check
            tabIndx = tab.index();
            alert('tabIndx = ' + tabIndx);
            $("#AdminTabStrip").data("kendoTabStrip").select(tabIndx);
        }

This is the definition of the Kendo Tabstrip:
@(Html.Kendo().TabStrip()
        .Name("AdminTabStrip")

I would like to set focus to a particular Tab based on user input.