For most part of my stint as KKR leader, I have always been one of the boys: easy-going, relaxed, and a bit of a prankster.

Sometimes in a team game, the entire spotlight is on one man.

I may try and get into education. I may open a school, and that is my ultimate dream. Opening a school will give education to children, who are the future of our country. If we can educate them in a proper way, I think that will change the future of the country.

To me, form is not about scoring runs but how you feel about your game. Sometimes the runs are not there, but you know you are batting well, and that is good form for me.

I grew up playing on unprepared surfaces where your wicket depended on quickly adapting to the bounce. As a kid, I could never differentiate off-spin from leg-spin. All I looked to do was to try to hit the ball before it pitched.

My mood depends on how I treat my toothbrushes. Being a skipper is a strenuous job, and when you are going through a rough phase, obviously you start taking out your frustration. You can't take it out on anyone: you can't take it out on your teammates or your wife. The only person that is left is your toothbrush.

I have always loved the big stage and would often tell my friends while growing up that I'd want to help India win the World Cup one day.

I am an intense person on the field. I always want to win, as it matters to me a lot. That's why I never like to lose the focus or intensity.

When you come out of your comfort zone, you can express yourself in front of the whole world, and there was no better stage to express yourself as a batsman and as a leader than IPL.

Any quality player can adjust well to the different demands. It is like a good tennis player who is expected to adjust to the clay at the French Open, the grass at Wimbledon, the hard courts of the U.S. and the heat of the Australian Open. A professional is expected to do all that.

I've always wanted to do something for the defence forces - I've always said that the Army always has been my first love. It's about what they do selflessly for the country.

When I play for Delhi in Ranji Trophy, I try to help Delhi win, and when I play IPL for KKR, I aim to make KKR win.

Irrespective of whether Anil Kumble is the coach or Ravi Shastri, what's more important is that India wins.

I don't enjoy cricket. I just take it as a priority... something that I have to do.

There should be no cricket and Bollywood ties with Pakistan till Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism.

When I go on to the field, it is also like my office. I have to give my 100 per cent, and I have to be really committed to it. It's all about winning.

T20 runs should only be a criteria to get selected for a T20 side. The moment you start picking players in the one-day format by their T20 performance, then you are giving your domestic 50-over competitions absolutely no relevance.

I have been brought up watching the 'Rocky' series and 'First Blood' series. I am obviously a big fan of Sylvester Stallone.

I am a very strong believer in one thing. The more physically fit you are, the more mentally fit you get.

I am a great believer that a captain is as good as his team.

I think a captain is someone who captains on the cricket field but, most of the leadership that happens is off the cricket field. It's very easy to captain people on the cricket field, but if you can start leading them off the cricket field, and show them that trust, what you have in them.

I think the only time I show my emotions and anger is on the cricket field; otherwise, I've mellowed down. And with age, I think, with age you always end up mellowing down.

When I'm playing a team sport, it's not about one individual, it's about everyone, from me to the other 23 people who were there, to all the support staff who've worked very hard behind the scenes.

I've always maintained that the problem in India is that we only give credit to big contributions.

The face of the team are the people who're playing on the cricket field. The team is not about one individual.

It used to hurt me that people thought I didn't have the technique and the temperament to play Test cricket.

I can bat in the morning, afternoon, evening, night, on ice, desert, wherever and whenever. It is almost nirvana for me. It takes me away from the stresses of life.

I think only a batsman will be able to tell you about the goose bumps he gets after hitting a perfect cover drive. I'm one of them.

I believe in backing players and helping them out with their game.

I think you need to be a leader, not a captain. You may have seen a lot of captains in this country, but the most important thing is to be a leader.

If a youngster can come up to me and share his problems or share his experiences or share something that he does off cricket, that can obviously help you build a better relation with one-on-one, and that can help you captain him on the cricket field.

At one point, when I didn't make the 2007 World Cup squad, I was very, very frustrated. Then I became very hard on myself. Whenever I used to go to the nets, or when I trained in the gym, I was very hard on myself. I couldn't sleep; I used to think a lot. Very, very desperate to make a comeback.

Ask any batsman what gives him maximum satisfaction. It's scoring runs, whether it's Ranji Trophy or any form of the game. When you get back to your room, knowing that you have scored a hundred, it gives you satisfaction.

One thing I realised was that everyone is different. You can't compare two human beings.

I came into the Indian team and was touted as someone who did well only against weaker oppositions. There were doubts creeping into my game. I was looking for support, someone to put an arm around my shoulder and say I am good and I belong to this place. Virender Sehwag is that someone for me.

No one can act like Bachchan saab or bat like Virender Sehwag.

Every relation forms its own defined and non-defined rules.

In India, you need to look intense to be classified a good cricketing brain.

If you start beating opponents in their backyard is when you give yourself a chance to remain No.1.

White ball cricket can be taxing on bowlers and can be a distraction for a youngster, too.

You need different skills to do well in 50-overs cricket. You need completely different skills to do well in Test cricket. You need different skills to do well in T20 cricket. It is not the same.

Cricket is a team game. If you want fame for yourself, go play an individual game.

When you go out on the field, you don't go out to make friends... I play to win the game and not just to compete.

Winning is something that makes people happy.

According to me, there couldn't be a better choice for India's coach than Anil Kumble.

Ravi Shastri has been claiming that Indian team was very successful under him, but he never told us that India lost ODI series to Bangladesh, lost ODI series to South Africa at home.

I would never go to a cinema hall to watch a biopic on a cricketer. I am not a big fan of people making biopics on sportsmen, especially cricketers. I think there are far bigger people who have done much more for the country, and films should be made on them.

When I am captaining a side, the way I play would be the way my team plays as well. If I will be joking around all the time, I wouldn't expect people to take me seriously.

I am a completely different person off the field, and my friends and family can vouch for that.

Sportsmen do not need Bollywood or film industry; they do not need publicity: it could be the other way round.