Celebration is big for me. From my younger days, when I used to win mementos while playing basketball, I have always believed in sharing my success. It has to be there. It lifts the energy levels of the entire side if you are positive and vocal when a wicket falls.
I don't compete with others, but compete with myself.
I try to do better than what I have before.
I have always maintained that if you work hard, it wont go waste, as recognition will come to you at some stage, whether in studies or sports. You need to have good intentions and intent to move ahead in life as well as in sports.
My job is to perform, enjoy cricket and thank God for whatever he has given me.
When you're successful, there will be friends, people, VIPs rallying around you. When you're down and out, you're all alone. That's why it's important to be a good person. Because whether you're a successful cricketer or not can always change, but the respect you earn by being the person you are stays with you.
I am not brand conscious. I wear what suits me.
I am very close to my family. I have learned a lot from my father. He used to tell me to be honest with yourself and not to argue with your seniors. You dont need to be involved in any quarrel, as sometimes you need to remain silent intelligently.
As professional cricketers, we have to ensure that we are battle-ready all the time.
I would never date or marry an actress. I will marry the girl of my mom's choice.
The future is uncertain, and therefore I can't predict it.
Normally players from the hostels don't give much importance to their fitness, but my case was different thanks to my coach. He helped me focus a lot on my batting and bowling which worked out really well for me in the future.
I will never date an actor or a model. My family will never accept her. We are a middle class family, and an actress will never be able to gel with us.
It is a great feeling of course to have scored so many runs, but that is what I play cricket for: to score lots of runs.
At the international level, one has to keep working hard and develop new skills. International cricket is all about improving yourself.
For a batsman, scoring runs abroad is always a challenge.
For me, fielding is everything - it is a passion that comes from within. You can get a bad ball while you bat, and your bowling may not always be up there, but you are completely in control of how well you field.
I never have issues in handling the fame. I was in a boarding school, as I am from a middle-class family. We didn't have a lot of money, so we all learned to respect money and understood its real value.
The shot of Kapil Dev kissing the World Cup and hordes of Indian fans all over at Lord's is etched in my memory. Every Indian is proud of that victory, and every Indian player who has played the World Cup after that '83 win wants to bring the Cup home.
My days in hostel were tough. I was ragged by my seniors. We were asked to wash their dirty clothes, do their odd jobs, etc. When it came to eating, we would be often given burnt rotis and milk that had awful odour. But, never once did I call home. I knew if I had to become a tough cricketer, I would have to handle the pressure.
I am trying hard to better my performances every match.
If you're successful, it's important to enjoy it! I love shopping for clothes, branded clothes. I love shopping in England, Dubai. I like to travel whenever I can.
We definitely have a lot of talent in India for football. It is great to see football's growing popularity and I really hope a larger number of corporate companies invest in the game so that one day we have a great team to boast about.
I think Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket.
As a player, I like playing as much cricket as possible, irrelevant of the format.
