“I delayed my father’s funeral because of cricket.”

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.

I’ve had a fan who made a painting of my face with her fingers. I have put it up in my room. It was sweet and very different.

Probably because I’m from a middle class family, I have that nature in me that I don’t get too excited with big things.

One of us wins, all of us win. Am I right?

I do believe in God. But you won’t find me visiting temples every now and then. I believe in self-realization. Peace of mind matters a lot to me. What’s the point in doing something just for the sake of it? I’d rather do something I like doing as long as I’m being true to myself.

I don’t think there is anything wrong in earning money from the sport you love. If you work hard and get benefits from it, there is no harm. The day you feel that you are not working hard and are only looking at the benefits, that’s where the problem is.

Work never stops.

To succeed, you also have to know how to make choices and how to think more broadly.

The shortest answer is doing the thing.

Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.

Leadership is not a license to do less. Leadership is a responsibility to do more.

As much as I loved the art and discipline of the dance, it didn’t love me!

You’re not going to enjoy every minute of the journey, but the success you’ll find at the end will make it all worth it.

The culmination of many years of dedication, hard work and professionalism and that makes me very happy.

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.