“I’m a big fan of Aamir Khan, Among actresses, I like Aishwarya Rai.”

I get really motivated when I put on the India jersey. It is a responsibility, so I want to perform in the best way I can.

When you’re having fun, each moment becomes magical

I have made a few mistakes early on that I admit myself, and there have been times when I have gone over the top and done things that you shouldn’t do in international cricket, but that’s how you learn.

My superhero has always been Tendulkar, and it will be Tendulkar for life. He is someone who has inspired me immensely. Just watching him play for India, I used to dream of winning games for India, because he used to do it single handedly.

I’ve been lucky – all the ads I’ve got, I’ve got to be myself. I haven’t had to act too much or tried too hard to be someone I’m not. I think that’s why people sort of like them. Even the Fastrack ads I did with Genelia.

I love playing under pressure. In fact, if there’s no pressure, then I’m not in the perfect zone.

The joy of doing well as a batsman for your country is much more than that little joy of going for a party and enjoying music. It is a completely different high, and I get high by performances. That’s what I enjoy now.

As a kid, even I knew everything about my favourite cricketers. I used to know everything possible. Now I see kids knowing about me. It feels good.

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 am very happy playing and showing off my talent on the cricket field and have no plans to enter Bollywood.

Whatever you want to do, do with full passion and work really hard towards it. Don’t look anywhere else. There will be a few distractions, but if you can be true to yourself, you will be successful for sure.

I support Real Madrid. I’m a big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pretension is a poor joke that you play on yourself. Snap out of it. Recognise your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Real achievement is liking what you see in the mirror every morning.

I wasn’t very good in academics, but I could have been if I could have studied well. I was a smart kid.

Becoming an inspiration for kids is great. I want to inspire them to do whatever they want to.

No cricket team in the world depends on one or two players. The team always plays to win.

Indian actors, because of the format of our stories, need to be good actors, and be able to perform emotional sequences, do a bit of comedy, dance and singing, action, because all of this forms just one film. In many ways I’d say there are greater demands on Indian actors than there are on Hollywood.

Comedy is difficult for an actor. But I think I have a good sense of humor and manage to make people laugh and make them happy.

Paris is the playwright’s delight. New York is the home of directors. London, however, is the actor’s city, the only one in the world. In London, actors are given their head.

There’s a personal me, there’s an actor me and there’s a star me.

It’s the failure of my debut film which made me an actor, which made me want to succeed in the industry. But that doesn’t mean I regret whatever choices I’ve made over the years. No, not even ‘Kaiyethum Doorathu!’

After a point, it doesn’t matter where you come from. There are many star kids who haven’t done well in the industry and rank newcomers who have done amazingly well.

If two actors have an equal creative give and take between them, it translates beautifully on the screen.

If two actors have an equal creative give and take between them, it translates beautifully on the screen.