I have delivered sometimes, and the other times, I have not. I have taken it in my stride as a player and learnt from my mistakes.

I enjoy wicket-keeping in the shorter format. I think when we are bowling first, it gives me an idea of how the wicket is behaving.

When kids are 15 or 16, they should be playing more sports. I played football, basketball, cricket... Name any sport, and I played it.

Wherever we play, the batsmen have bigger responsibility in ODI and T20 formats to set up big targets and give that cushion to bowlers.

I don't know whether I am mentally tough or not, but one thing I know is that I like the game and spend as much time as possible on it.

I am happy to playing against teams like South Africa and Australia early on in my career. It is going to make me stronger as a cricketer.

That's where I would love to bat, and I have always batted at the top of the order. Numbers one and two are what I am most comfortable in.

Having to play Test matches for a month and then switch to T20s in five days is not easy, but that's the kind of challenge I love to face.

Growing up, I played on matting wickets. I always enjoyed the pace and bounce and somewhere that has a big role or big effect on your game.

Those first few overs are obviously the most difficult time because you don't know what the ball is going to do in the air and off the seam.

I respect Test cricket a lot. Once I got into the Test team, I learnt so much about international cricket and realised it's not so different.

I am not someone who likes to be in the dressing room and waste time; I like to be on the field all the time and be counted. That is how I am.

I spent a lot of time with Rahul Dravid, working on my game and chatting about cricket. He helped me a lot in the games I played for India 'A.'

I have had to work really hard at white-ball cricket. It doesn't come naturally to me, I was a slow batsman; I worked hard on my game and fitness.

There are only a few times in a batsman's life when he gets really eager: when you want to get off the mark or when you are approaching 100 or 200.

After junior cricket, if the team wanted me to keep in a one-off/odd match or if anyone got injured, I was up for it. I kept in One-dayers and T20s.

If you get off to a good start, even if you get the run-rate down a bit in the middle overs, if you are set till the end, you can do the most damage.

Fortunately, I got to play some India 'A' games, and some games where the pressure was a little less, so that I can focus on my skill and my technique.

For anybody, faith and belief are everything you have. Nobody gave me the India cap; nobody taught me to go and get runs. It's a belief I had in myself.

If you are hitting the ball well, your form, your technique looks good, and when you are not, everything about your game looks bad. That is how it goes.

200 for a batsman is a big landmark, and I have never been somebody who has chased landmarks, but getting a 200 will always be a proud moment for a batsman.

Earlier in the shorter format, I was not consistent, so I was not getting noticed. But I always believed that I had the game to do it. It was just about consistency.

I have always enjoyed keeping. I used to keep earlier for my state and later didn't have much chance to keep. But I keep myself ready if ever anyone wants me to keep.

When you sit out, then you realize that, when you get the opportunity, how important it is to use that opportunity, not only as a player individually but also for the team.

It is a very happy feeling that a legend like Rahul Dravid talks highly about me. But I can't just sit back and be happy about it. I have to back it up with my performances.

Every player needs that one or two innings to get the confidence in whatever format to realise that he's good enough to be successful in whatever conditions or at whatever level.

As an opening batsman, it's my responsibility to spend as much time in the middle as I can and try and get big scores in the first innings so that we don't have to bat in the second innings.

Everybody enjoys each other's success. We are always pushing each other to get better on the field and off the field, helping each other out in the nets or in the gym. That's the most important thing.

If you are batting first as an opener, you give yourselves a couple of overs, see what's the wicket behaving, and then try to assess what a good score on that wicket would be, and then you plan accordingly.

I don't really have routines or follow what my coaches tell me or how people want me to be: this stereotypical 'sleep on time and set good examples' person. I don't really know what setting a good example is.

I was fortunate enough to interact with him when I played for RCB in IPL. I learnt from AB as to how he prepares for a game. I get amazed by the kind of strokes he hits and the time he has got to play those shots.

When you get a chance to play, if you help them win a game, then the team will start believing that the player can also do this for the team. So building that confidence for yourself and the team is very important.

No matter how well I have taken care of my body, I have been injured a few times, which is very unfortunate and which is very disappointing. But each time, I have come back, I have come back stronger, and I have come back hungrier.

We, as sportsmen, we're not used to just sitting at home and being at home all day. We want to go out. We want to play sport. We want to be in the gym, want to train; we want to hit balls, and when you're not physically able to do that, it's really tough. It starts playing on the mind a lot more.

Share This Page