“I don’t really focus on these things – on what tags are given to me or what people think of me off the field – stuff like that. 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.”

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

I always dreamt of holding the bat and winning games for India. That was my inspiration to take up cricket.

It undoubtedly feels nice when you are being appreciated and you get complimented by girls. Who doesn’t like that? Having said that, I don’t take it as any pressure.

Never at any point did I feel like missing a training session. I was very keen on improving as a cricketer and as an international player.

When you absolutely love what you do, everything just flows.

The more centuries that I am able to score, the happier I will be.

The bat is not a toy, it’s a weapon. It gives me everything in life, which helps me to do everything on the field.

Remember who you are and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Nothing extraordinary happens to a cricketer if you time his career – which is very short.

In the game of cricket, a hero is a person who respects the game and does not corrupt the game. The one who doesn’t or corrupts the game, they are the villain. They should be punished, and they have been punished in the past.

Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.

I want to be relaxed in my personal life. I really don’t like to be hassled.

Real fun is in a real challenge.

People from North India are generally known to be aggressive and emotional.

In the end, it’s you who you have to answer to.

I always had a sense of discipline in me. However, there was a time when I couldn’t divide my time properly between off-field things and on-field assignments. The focus would be missing at times, and that would affect my preparation for matches. I managed to change that.

Certainly I accept my role and responsibility as a public figure and a lot of it you take the good with the bad, dealing with different adversities in life, you just try to do the best you can do.

When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the hope then is in God and not in yourself.

Positive Thinking is not about expecting the best to ‎happen. It’s about accepting that whatever happens, happens for the best.

My career is too short for there to be any turns! But I would say that not everyone is noticed and accepted in their debut films. I was accepted both by the industry and the audience.

What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give to others.

When people accept breaking the law as normal, something happens to the whole society.

My advice to young entrepreneurs is not to accept defeat in the face of odds, and challenge negative forces with hope, self-confidence and conviction.

I do not label anyone as wrong or bad. I accept them and my respect heal them.