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I needed to step back from cricket, international cricket in particular, to get away from the scrutiny and intensity. I love it but it was too much for me.
After accepting the captaincy at the beginning of the 1998 season, I immediately set high but attainable goals for the West Indies cricket team and myself.
I've been lucky, my wife's been amazing. Any time we've had cricket matches she sends me to the spare room to get some sleep. She takes care of everything.
Cricket needs brightening up a bit. My solution is to let the players drink at the beginning of the game, not after. It always works in our picnic matches.
I can remember running around at the age of 3, wanting to play golf, cricket and football. I was always active, one way or another, driving my parents mad.
I used to practice at the hockey ground on synthetic surface while I was in the sports hostel, so Test cricket is certainly going to be a challenge for me.
One-day cricket is about continuity, team ethic, understanding each other's role, where everybody fields and bats, when and at which end they want to bowl.
Cricket is not rocket science. Bowlers often get wickets through perseverance, accuracy and being patient rather than trying to blast opposition teams out.
In white-ball cricket, things are different - over there, you outsmart the batsman, and over here in Test cricket, it's all about patience and consistency.
You have to see that cricket is developing as a sport because what's very important is you want cricket to be a global sport when it comes to participation.
I used to be a striker for my school, but my father felt cricket had more scope. I grew up admiring Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, so I chose cricket.
I did play other sports growing up. I played cricket and all those other things, but I was just so much more talented in golf, and that's all I wanted to do.
In my heart, international cricket is the way forward. That's where you want to play; that's where the pressure really lies. That's where you make your name.
I, as a cricketer, would like to see 100 counties playing top-flight cricket, just like tennis and football. If I am alive to see that, I will be very happy.
It is much easier to do a film about something that the audience readily knows about - say, cricket. It is much more difficult to write a film based on golf.
The only reason I would have liked to have gone to university is because I like cricket. Not a very good reason to want to go, but as good as any, I suppose.
My biggest ambition, ever since I was a boy in Pakistan, has been to play cricket at the highest level. If I can do so for South Africa, I'll give everything.
I've never been a massive advocate of international Twenty20 cricket except a World Cup every two or three years, because that gets the best players together.
Since my international debut in 2014 the miles on the clock have probably crept up and Test cricket is the level where the pressure and scrutiny are greatest.
I wanted to bat for the England cricket team. I was quite good at cricket. But then I kept getting out for low scores. It turned out I didn't have the talent.
I would say T20 cricket has introduced a more positive attitude in players and led to Tests also being played more aggressively and being more result oriented.
'Kanaa' is a rare opportunity; it's about women's cricket, and they've trusted me with this film. I trained for nearly four hours every day with three coaches.
It's quite strange, because off the field I'm quite shy, quiet, prefer to watch a bit of TV at home, but get me on the cricket field I like it all kicking off.
We want to inspire cricket fans and enhance their love for the game as well as bring new people and children into the fold and encourage them to pick up a bat.
You have to just adjust to the conditions quickly because there is a big difference in 50-over and 20-over cricket, and if you back yourself, you will do well.
I have bowled with another leg-spinner in county cricket - Shahid Afridi. But he is a totally different bowler than Mishra. I have a lot of respect for Mishra.
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.
A cricket ball broke my nose when I was a kid so I couldn't breath through it. Before I had it operated on I used to stand on stage with my mouth slightly open.
I was given a talent to play cricket. I don't know why I was given it. But I was. I owe it to all those who wish it had been them to give of my best, every day.
If you ask anyone around the cricket grounds, they will say I always sign loads of autographs and thank the ladies for lunch and try to behave in the right way.
To be honest I wasn't very good at football. I loved cricket and when I started making some big scores for my boys' team, I dreamed of becoming the next Border.
Ajwa and Asmara are the youngest and love to play dress-up. They have my permission to play any sport, as long as they're indoors. Cricket? No, not for my girls.
I don't watch cricket very much, but of course I enjoy whenever I see the sport, especially live, because of the energy in the stadium with the fans going crazy.
The wrestling is real, all the injuries are real, so much so that in no other sports, whether soccer or cricket or hockey, players get so many injuries as in WWE.
One of my theories is to be captain on the field and off the field, you need to totally enjoy each other's company. I don't like discussing cricket off the field.
When I played cricket for the West Indies, I never worried. I never really watched anyone else. I had a job to do, and I tried to do it to the best of my ability.
To me, it doesn't matter how good you are. Sport is all about playing and competing. Whatever you do in cricket and in sport, enjoy it, be positive and try to win.
Whether it is Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, or Inzamam ul-Haq, they will also say that they get a lot of respect here because cricket is literally worshiped in India.
I'm a bit undercooked when it comes to keeping in Test cricket, but I've had a lot of experience in T20 and ODIs for my country, and my keeping has improved a lot.
Believe it or not, cricket was my first love. I would genuinely have swapped the dream of a winning goal at Wembley for a century against the Australians at Lord's.
We, as a nation, have always worshipped cricket and cricket players, and even football. But kabaddi and kushti are seen fit only for villagers. That's changing now.
The best player I've played with would be Graeme Swann, just because he's proved that regular finger-spinners can take wickets in international cricket for England.
When I grew up, my father used to say that cricket is not a profession, cricket cannot bring you food. But I think he lived to see the day when I was actually paid.
In summer, my Sundays are often taken up with cricket. I play with a bunch of other over-competitive and overenthusiastic guys who I have known for a very long time.
Just as I have broken the monopoly of film music as being synonymous with popular music in our country, I want to prove that cricket is not the only glamorous sport.
I know everyone wants to see India winning on home soil, be it in hockey or cricket. But sometimes with expectations come pressure, which can affect our performance.
Some people see life as a game of chess, while others prefer to see it as a game of cricket; but the longer I live, the more I think of it as a game of Consequences.
I loved playing cricket from my childhood. My dad made me play in the streets, and my interest grew. He put me in a club, seeing this. My habit grew from that point.
I know hockey is not as popular as cricket in India, but I hope in future, every renowned hockey player should be given a fitting farewell rather than ignoring them.
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.