The bowlers I respected or feared or rated were not the ones who gave me lip or stared at me or abused me. More the ones who, at any stage of the game, when had they had the ball in hand, they were going to be at me, and they were going to have the skill and the fitness and the ability to be aggressive.

Cricket is just something that I am good at, just like various people are good at various things. What's lucky is that cricket gets enormous publicity.

I am not the only intense or intellectual cricketer. I played with other cricketers who could be pretty intense and intellectual.

I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling. No dream is ever chased alone.

Sachin Tendulkar is already a 'Bharat Ratna' for Indian people because of his phenomenal success and the manner in which he has served Indian cricket for years.

I was in the hockey team in school, played football. One of the challenges for me was to make the team feel better. It helped me evolve, so batting at different positions was never a problem.

He is a great leader by example. Someone whom I have always admired for his ability to remain balanced and have the sense of equanimity about his captaincy.