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

Loyalty above everything.

The people you choose to have around you make all the difference. My family and close friends keep me grounded. You have to have a mind of your own and a strong head on your shoulders. Cricket is the most important thing to me, so the rest of it pales in comparison.

On the field, aggression can sometimes be a positive emotion. It boosts performance and can lift your game. But over the years, I have learnt that restrained aggression is a better animal. That way, you will conserve your energy and won’t spend yourself quickly.

Endorsements are a reward for good performance on the field, and the commitments made after signing them need to be done.

In T20, you don’t have time to get distracted – it’s so quick, you have to run around in the field, and while batting, you don’t actually think about anything else.

I really want a movie made on Sachin Tendulkar’s life. That is something I’m looking forward to. There will be so much emotion to that movie.

If you’re true to yourself, you won’t fear anything.

I like to always lead from the front and set an example for whoever is playing with me or around me. I like taking responsibilities. That is my natural thing.

It was a personal decision for me to stand and say that cricket is all I have in life, there’s nothing I need to do other than cricket. If I want to achieve whatever I thought as a kid, I need to work hard and not let it go to waste.

I’m not a nerd, obviously. Do I look like one? I’m not someone who sits at home and doesn’t like to go out, doesn’t like to watch movies. I like to live my life.

Irrespective of whether you have talent or not, one has to work hard. Just being talented doesn’t mean anything; you can end up wasting it before you realize.

Delhi means everything to me. This city has given me everything, and I love it.

I want to elongate my cricketing career as a consistent player. I have personal goals I would like to achieve someday.

Focused & ready to go.

Tough game but happy to be on the winning side.

During my school days, I was doing a play, and my costume fell on the stage. I really wish it didn’t happen.

I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace.

I would like to see every woman know how to handle guns as naturally as they know how to handle babies.

When I sit near the ocean in the morning and write my verses and breathe the salty wind which is coming from the water, I rejoice in God and I am blissful, as I was as a child.

You know, I’ve held women and babies and jewels and money, but nothing will ever feel as good as holding that Cup.

I want to give more time to my children, my family, to my health.

To separate children from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

When I was a child, I used to fear monsters under the bed. I have since learned that most monsters are found within. And they are always worth fighting.

If you’re poor, you don’t often live near a good school. If it’s a competitive public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs.