A gun is no more dangerous than a cricket bat in the hands of a madman.
Whether that was in the Chepauk Stadium in Madras or at the Ilford Cricket School, there was a daily diet of cricket run by my dad. It was a hard school but he knew what he was doing. Everything I achieved was down to my dad.
I don't have a magic wand, and there is a lot we need to do right in Pakistan cricket to build a strong team.
My main focus is always to do well on the field for the Indian cricket team. When people say good things about me off the field, I am more than happy to accept them.
I don't really focus on these things - on what tags are given to me or what people think of me off the field - stuff like that. My main focus is always to do well on the field for the Indian cricket team. When people say good things about me off the field, I am more than happy to accept them.
Spirituality does two things for you. One, you are forced to become more selfless, two, you trust to providence. The opposite of a spiritual man is a materialist. If I was a materialist I would be making lots of money doing endorsements, doing cricket commentary. I have no interest in that.
I always try to stay methodical and logical with everything I do, playing cricket and making decisions.
Australia play best when they've got a bit of mongrel about them, when they play hard out in the middle, when they don't give an inch, when they play an aggressive brand of cricket.
At the international level, one has to keep working hard and develop new skills. International cricket is all about improving yourself.
Cricket pays well, so a lot of people are naturally drawn towards the game. But to carve a niche in non-cricket sports is not easy. So state governments need to be proactive. Indians need to be made aware of the power of an Olympic medal. It should be treated at par with an Oscars or a Nobel Prize.
In four-day cricket, you have to be consistent; you have to bowl in one area.
I feel that World Cup cricket should be played like football in which all the 160 countries take part. If only a handful of countries are going to keep on playing in the World Cup without making the game popular, I will be a sad man.
There is too much cricket being played. You need time away to get your mind in order to reach the optimum level.
Cricket is not a rational sport in India, and we go overboard.
Internet governance is an oxymoron. The Internet must govern itself. But you can't play cricket without any rules.
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 enjoy playing each and every format, but for me, Test cricket is at the paramount level because I feel everything is tested at that level.
When I was 15, I went on a cricket tour of Zimbabwe with my school. My defining memory of it was stroking a semi-tame lioness at a game reserve. I grew up on a farm, so I felt I had an affinity with animals, and when it put a paw out, I thought I'd connected with it. But its claws came out and nicked my leg. Then I did the most stupid thing: I ran.
The future of Indo-Pak cricket will depend on how the peace process goes.
I'm going to give international cricket one more crack. The Pakistan job seems like a perfect fit.
