It's important to work hard - there's no short cut around that.

Shoaib Akhtar has been playing for 5, 6 years and is an experienced bowler.

I am a sportsman and not a politician. I am a sportsman and will always remain one. I am not going to enter politics giving up cricket, which is my life. I will continue to play cricket.

I am not going to come back and play IPL. Have a few plans and may play a few matches here and there.

I never played with a runner in my entire life, even in schools, because only I know where the ball is going and how hard, when I hit the ball, something my runner will never know about.

Any active sportsman has to be very focused; you've got to be in the right frame of mind. If your energy is diverted in various directions, you do not achieve the results. I need to know when to switch on and switch off: and the rest of the things happen around that. Cricket is in the foreground, the rest is in the background.

But eventually it is a game of cricket.