“Cricket is just something that I am good at, just like various people are good at various things. What’s lucky is that cricket gets enormous publicity.”

I was telling people if every time I answered a question about Multan I got a rupee, I would be a multimillionaire by now.

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

You get an image in the first couple of years of your career, and then whether you like it or not, you are stuck with it for the rest of your life.

Sachin Tendulkar is already a ‘Bharat Ratna’ for Indian people because of his phenomenal success and the manner in which he has served Indian cricket for years.

You don’t play for revenge, you play for respect & pride.

In a cricket career, your life is in some ways controlled for you. You have no control over schedules, you have no control about where you want to play, you don’t have control over that as a cricketer.

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.

No dream is ever chased alone.

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.

I am what I am. I have not deliberately built an image for myself.

I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling. No dream is ever chased alone.

I am not the only intense or intellectual cricketer. I played with other cricketers who could be pretty intense and intellectual.

There is an element of mystique to radio, and I often listen to cricket commentary on radio, especially when one is stuck in a traffic jam.

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.

I was in the hockey team in school, played football. One of the challenges for me was to make the team feel better. It helped me evolve, so batting at different positions was never a problem.

I leave with sadness, but also with pride.

Our biggest strength has always been the fans. All over, wherever we have gone, CSK has got support.

Nothing ever stopped me from playing sports. Not even when I didn’t have my shoes on.

As a skipper, when you try to manipulate the field, you need to see the strengths of the fast bowlers.

A sporting track doesn’t always mean that it will only have grass on it.

One of the most amazing things Cricket gave me is friends for life.

Nothing like spending time with friends and playing a sport. It gives you some unforgettable moments.

When trying to save a match, the important thing is to set small targets.

Pain is inevitable, but at the same time setbacks are temporary as long as you don’t give up.