Does it make a difference if I score 8000 or 10,000 runs in Test cricket? Not in anybody's life.
I have played cricket on my own terms.
I always wanted to play cricket, and I have played competitive cricket to a fairly good level. I remember that my father used to come and watch me play. He used to love watching me play.
If you play cricket for India, money is bound to come, and with IPL in and match money of the Ranjhi trophy, I think money is there. There's no good reason why you should not work hard, because at the end of the day, you want to play for your country.
Cricket is basically baseball on valium.
I told another ESPN friend here, I love all sports. I can't think of any I don't love. I've even come to appreciate cricket. Maybe I could play a sportswriter. I don't know. Anything in the sports realm is appealing.
We really tried hard not to make it a cricket book, it appeals to a much wider community.
When I was growing up, I played a lot of ten- and 12-over games, and I would bat in the middle order. I got only ten-odd balls to face, and I tried to score as much as I could. I applied the same approach in domestic and international cricket, and people were appreciating my strike rate being more than 80 or 90 in Test cricket.
Some people see life as a game of chess, while others prefer to see it as a game of cricket; but the longer I live, the more I think of it as a game of Consequences.
When Pakistan beat England at cricket, my Pakistani cousins remind me how English and British I am. When they say, 'You're one of the Queen's advisers,' for them it's, 'Wow - anything's possible in the U.K.'
I have stopped having goals. If you have many goals, and you don't reach your goals, it is very upsetting, so I just think of keeping it simple, working hard and going and playing the game. But I know there are going to be very important series for Indian cricket. I will just try my best to be in my fittest form.
I was a keen sportsman, and became school captain in soccer and cricket.
The difference between a score in the 90s and a century is often reflected as the difference between failure and success. It may be illogical, but in cricket, a century has its own magic.
I used to practice at the hockey ground on synthetic surface while I was in the sports hostel, so Test cricket is certainly going to be a challenge for me.
I think if you're writing about cricket, you're obviously writing about power, because cricket is such a loaded sport, much more so than soccer.
The contribution of Anthony William Greig to English cricket has been underestimated because of his allegiance to Kerry Packer and his choice to recruit players for World Series Cricket while still the England captain. His critics hold that as a black mark against him, which rules out anything else he may have done.
The problem is there's still a big kid inside me who likes to have fun. I am passionate about my cricket and I love my family, but I'm also a kid and maybe I need to grow up... And maybe I don't.
I want to give my six hours of serious cricket on the ground and then take whatever the result.
Cricket needs brightening up a bit. My solution is to let the players drink at the beginning of the game, not after. It always works in our picnic matches.
When I was a kid, I used to try and hit every ball out of the ground. After playing one-day cricket and Test cricket, I never thought I'd get a chance to play like that again, ever. Twenty20 has given me the opportunity of playing like a kid again. I can just feel free and go out there and hit.
I think Bollywood and cricket go hand in hand. Glamour attracts glamour. Cricket has become a very glamorous game now.
Twenty20 is cricket on speed. In an era of hectic lifestyles and falling attention spans, it gives spectators more drama and intensity in three hours that they would get from a whole-day match. And even though it is a heady cocktail of money, entertainment and media, at its core it is cricket.
Cricketers have a very short shelf life. On an average, you make money through cricket for five years, but you need to survive for sixty years.
If you are good at studies, and you want to play cricket, you may work harder than any other person, but you may not achieve it. So it's something you have to balance in life and be practical where you are good and then channelise your efforts in the right direction to be successful in life.
We want to take boxing to the level of cricket.
To compare Olympic sport with cricket would not be fair. Years back, cricket was a sport only for the classes, and we will also have to make other sports masses from classes like cricket.
When you start the game, coaches will tell you to do stuff in a particular way, and kids do that. But the moment you start first-class cricket, the coach needs to tell you, 'Try this, try that,' instead of, 'Do this, do that.' If you feel comfortable, you can take it; otherwise, leave it.
Badminton is not as glamorous as cricket.
I used to play a lot of tennis-ball cricket.
Nothing happens in cricket, ever. Even the highlights resemble a freeze frame.
No cricket team in the world depends on one or two players. The team always plays to win.
I am always the one who is responsible for anything bad that happens in Indian cricket. Everything that happens is because of me.
When I got dropped for the World Cup, there were times I didn't want to play anymore. I didn't want to practise. I couldn't motivate myself. Then I said, 'Look what are the options?' Cricket is the only option. Whether I play happily or sadly, it's still all I have. There are not a lot of things I am good at.
Like an author, a cricketer signs his name on every innings he bats or bowls in; indeed for every cricket ball that challenges him on the field.
For any sport to be sustainable, it cannot survive on government or corporate grants alone. The sporting ecosystem needs more investments from businesses, and businesses need to see the returns from their investment in sport. Cricket has achieved that distinction, but I feel a country of a billion-plus people cannot remain captive to one sport.
Indian cricketers need more exposure, and as cricket administrators, we need to beef up the domestic circuit. Only then will fresh talent come up.
