Virender Sehwag
Fitness has nothing to do with age.Collection: Age
Til the day I didn't play under-19 World Cup, nobody ever celebrated my birthday. And the moment I played for Indian team, my family got excited and ordered and cut a cake for me in front of 40-50 family members.Collection: Birthday
I have never hidden my injury before, or fitness problems. Even my shoulder operation was planned after consulting the then coach Gary Kirsten and skipper MS Dhoni.Collection: Fitness
I don't like to party. I like to spend time with family on my birthday.Collection: Birthday
There is no point playing in the IPL when I have retired from international cricket. I did not want a youngster to miss out because of me.
When I play a cover-drive, I play it to score runs.
Sometimes, you just need to get out of the game and should do things which you want to do in life and like.
My father was a farmer, and we have had some farming land in Haryana. Maybe I would have followed his footsteps and become a farmer.
I love to score runs rather than defending or leaving the ball. That is an important aspect of my batting: I don't want to waste balls in any form of the game.
I curse myself if I get out without making a 100 after crossing 40.
I was scared of facing only one bowler - that was Muttiah Muralitharan.
One should always be happy, irrespective of what you achieve in a match or in life. That's how I live my life.
During the peak of my career, I used to pick the ball as soon it was released from the bowler's hands. And I hit the ball through the line.
If you know your game, you can handle pressure; you can handle any kind of situation, back yourself, and play your own game and get success.
I have matured in my shot selection but will not discard my style. I don't believe in wasting balls.
As for my batting, the best part about it is I have never changed it. I have never changed my thinking, I have never changed my batting style.
When I faced the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee for the first time, I had a little bit of fear in my mind. My thoughts were, 'Would I be able to face them? Would I be able to play them? Would I be able to hit boundaries?' There were so many questions and fear, also, that if the ball didn't hit my bat, it might hit me on the body.
I write what I like. I don't bother what people think about it.
Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early.
I never thought of breaking a record. The only ambition I had was to become the fastest century maker for India, which I did when I broke Azharuddin's record.
Because I knew I had got success at Ranji level, I was confident I would get some success in international cricket too.
The most important thing for any athlete is to know his ability. If you know your ability and have even a little bit of a strong mindset, you can get success, because your ability takes you to success.
To participate in a World Cup is a great honour and achievement. I've played in three World Cups. The whole world watches you during a World Cup and expects you to play innings to win games for your country.
When I was a kid, my first dream was to play Test matches, and the second one was to play 100 Test matches because there are very few people who have played 100 Tests for India.
When a person becomes satisfied, he doesn't run after things, doesn't worry about it, and doesn't make efforts.
I try to hit the ball along the ground, especially against fast bowlers. I also like the bat to come down in the right position and check if my body position is correct. If I'm really watching the ball carefully, then automatically I'm in a good position to hit it down the ground.
In my view, if you have good or bad technique, it doesn't matter. But you will survive if you can adjust your game at international level, you are mentally strong, you know your strengths and how to score runs.
It doesn't matter if you have one billion rupees in your bank account or one rupee. This is one life you get, and you'd rather spend it enjoying whatever you have, rather than thinking, 'Oh, I should have scored seven more runs, or I should get more money.'
When I was growing up, I played a lot of ten- and 12-over games, and I would bat in the middle order. I got only ten-odd balls to face, and I tried to score as much as I could. I applied the same approach in domestic and international cricket, and people were appreciating my strike rate being more than 80 or 90 in Test cricket.
If any IPL team wants me to be a mentor or a batting consultant, I would love to do that. I can share my knowledge with the youngsters.
I would love to be a coach, mentor, or a batting consultant. I would love to commentate in Hindi, as most people who watch the game are more comfortable with Hindi in India rather than English.
Every coach desires to bring in his own support staff.
Many stories come from the dressing room that one doesn't speak when you are playing but can do once retired.
I don't bother about image.
During Rahul Dravid's captaincy, Dhoni got the role of a finisher. He got out a couple of times playing a bad shot, and he was also reprimanded by Dravid during one instance. But from that instance, he completely changed his approach and became a very good finisher.
If you are disciplined, it shows you are organised.
I learned from Tendulkar how to get big hundreds.
I have never been able to play consistently with soft hands.
When I began my life journey, we'd survive on Rs 500 a month as a family. As time passed and I started playing for the country, this Rs 500 multiplied manifold, but it was not the money that mattered: it was the fact that I was fulfilling my ambition of playing cricket on the highest platform, representing my country.
I lose around a couple of crores every year on the school, but even if I was to make profit from it, I would never use it for myself. I'd plough every penny back into improving facilities for the school. Just as I do with the cricket academies I run around the country. These are not for making money; for that, I have other avenues.
If I had planned to score double and triple hundreds, I would probably not have made them ever.
Once I took to Twitter and shared those jokes, they became a huge hit. My following grew, and some of the posts got thousands of retweets. With so many shares, money from sponsors followed.
Whenever senior players are missing, its ideal for youngsters to avail of these opportunities.
April 2nd is a memorable moment of my cricketing career.
I believe in wishing my colleagues and other celebs in a manner that brings my wit out and gives people a talking point. But there are people who love and those who hate you. That's part of a celeb's life.
I don't know how to troll people, but there are many out there talking with that intent. I just write something funny that would make people laugh.
Someone enjoys your batting, and someone, your humour. Since I'm not batting any longer, I can at least say some words, so people enjoy and give me compliments, too.
My best India v. Pakistan moment is from our first match in the ICC World T20 2007, which was a tie.
My style is my strength. It is my natural game. That is how I grew up and scored most of my runs.
I don't care whether I am politically correct or not when I tweet.