There are so many fans and so many people who care deeply about this game, and it is because of these fans that we are who we are as cricketers.

While I played Ranji Trophy for five years, I used to be asked, 'When are you playing for the nation?' - a question which I didn't have any answer to. I kept playing before I got my first break in 1996; those five years were indeed frustrating.

Sometimes fitness is a good thing to have, but you have to recognise that fitness takes you only so far, and skills are the most important thing. Fitness just helps you execute those cricketing skills for longer and more consistently, maybe.

If you don't ask for the best, you don't get it.

There are so many fans and so many people who care deeply about this game, and it is because of these fans that we are who we are as cricketers.

Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgment, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero. You can't get a more complete cricketer than Sachin. He has everything that a cricketer needs to have

No dream is ever chased alone.