Alastair Cook- Talking about his cricket success with official

March 17, 2009

“KP taking over was like a cold shower on a sticky day”
“Vaughany had been there for a long time and he was an unbelievable captain in terms of his achievement. But life moves on. That said, we should really have beaten South Africa at Edgbaston. It was only an unbelievable innings from Graeme Smith that condemned Vaughany. In terms of Test cricket, that innings was the best I’ve seen. It was 90/4 and South Africa managed to get 280/5. Smith played unbelievably well.
“You saw the emotion of Vaughany giving it up. You saw how hard it was. It shows the pressure he was under. The job just took its toll. And maybe sub-consciously we all felt that too. None of us was giving any less effort under Vaughany than we did under Kev. But sometimes it’s good to have a freshen up: if you’re hot and sticky and you have a cold shower… that’s kind of the feeling we had at the Brit Oval. We’d lost the series and Vaughany had gone, so we all decided it was a one-off Test, a new start and we had to win it. There was no point dwelling on what happened before. Under KP, it was new and it was exciting and it was different.”

“Getting picked for Stanford? Sometimes you get lucky.”
“Sometimes you get quite lucky in life. And you have to accept that. And the selectors have looked at the theory: last year England took a whole new side to the Twenty20 World Cup and it didn’t work. It’s about continuity. Sides take time to gel and the one-day squad had done so well against South Africa: everyone knew their roles and we were using Stanford as a warm-up for bigger things.
“Am I looking to develop my one-day game? It’s already happening. I was leading runscorer in the one-dayers in Sri Lanka last year and then again in New Zealand. The biggest challenge for me is to expand my game. It takes a while. You can’t just click your fingers and have one net and start smashing it everywhere and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve sorted it’. These are quite big things to try and change.” 


“You always feel you’re not far away from getting it right.”
“We were bowled out for 83 in Galle last December – but we did hold on for the draw, even if we were helped out by the rain. Then, getting bowled out for 110 and losing to New Zealand in our next Test in Hamilton in February… it was frustrating. You always feel you’re not far away from getting it right. The feeling after that Hamilton game was ‘Let’s prove them all wrong.’ And we won the next two Test matches and won the series. So there’s not much else you can say about that. In my opinion. It’s like a football team: if you lose one game and then win the next nine then it’s all okay.”


“KP is all about constant improvement”
“Experience helps you improve. I know my game has improved against spin. But then again I got 100 on my debut in India in 2006, so that improvement is quite hard to measure… It’s weird how you improve. It’s such a gradual thing. Take our batting coach Andy Flower – towards the end of his career he was probably playing his best cricket. But five years before that he had been No 1 in the world.
“And that’s Kev’s big thing as a captain. He’s like that as a player himself: keep improving, keep improving. There’s so many good batters out there waiting to take my place. And I don’t want that to happen. So you’re prepared to put in the extra hard yards. If I do get dropped, I’ll know it wasn’t because I went to a film premiere or whatever. I’d know I’d given it my all.”

“Winning in New Zealand was the highlight of the year”
“We proved people wrong after getting written off again. That night after winning the third Test in Napier was a very good night as a team. And then beating New Zealand at home too. Everyone will go, ‘Ah boring’ but there’s no better feeling than winning a Test series, after you’ve slogged your guts out for 15 or 20 days. It’s special, no matter who you beat. That’s the true feeling of success as a team.
“If you look at the statistics, not many sides win Test series in New Zealand. New Zealand have a very underrated attack. Yes, they didn’t have Shane Bond but they never gave you much to hit. We all found that. The only time we really broke that was in NZ when we were chasing and when we turned that Test round at Old Trafford. The NZ attack bowled very well at us: not relentless wicket-taking balls but they never gave you much to hit: Kyle Mills, Chris Martin and Jacob Oram – who has got the lowest economy rate in Test cricket – and obviously Vettori is an excellent spinner. So that was probably a surprise to me just how good they were.”

“We work like mad on our fielding”
“When I first started playing I dropped a few catches. But Peter Moores, being an ex-keeper, is an excellent catching coach. And I’ve made a massive effort. Our catching in the England side has improved a helluva lot. It’s one of Mooresy’s areas of expertise. Watch a warm-up and the amount of catching we do, not so much as a group but as individuals, especially now Richard Halsall has come in as our fielding coach. It’s just that little 0.1 per cent improvement every time you do something. Of course some catches stick just because it’s your day. But all that practice gives you the best chance of success.”

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Interview with Michael Clarke -cricket success

December 28, 2008. Michael Clarke calls it one of the worst days of his career, while his coach Tim Nielsen described it as “something your worst nightmares couldn’t come up with.” This was the day when Australia’s thirteen-year dominance of Test cricket finally came to an end.

Australia had started the third day of the second Test against South Africa at the MCG in a familiar position, having made a healthy 394 they now had South Africa struggling at 198-7, so were naturally expecting to establish an mammoth first innings lead.
But then something strange happened. Try as they might, they couldn’t knock over the South African tail. For most of the day under a relentlessly hot sun, Australia’s bowlers failed to intimidate or dislodge the rookie JP Duminy, playing in only his second Test, or fast bowler Dale Steyn and his Test average of 9.80.

The MCG began to realise they were witnessing Australia’s power slowly ebbing away before them with every boundary or pinched single. It was both painful and embarrassing as together Duminy and Steyn put on 180, the third highest ninth-wicket partnership of all time, to give South Africa a barely believable lead of 65.

The experience utterly demoralised Ricky Ponting’s side, and on the final day South Africa would eventually win the Test by nine wickets to hand Australia their first series defeat at home in 16 years, only weeks after they had gone down to their heaviest series defeat in nearly 20 years against India.

“Yeah, Melbourne wasn’t good,” sighs Clarke, his normally sunny disposition jolted by the memory. “But that wasn’t even the first time that situation had happened, because in Bangalore a few months earlier we also weren’t able to bowl out the Indians.

“That was very disappointing. When you’re told you have a day five wicket and runs on the board you would like to back your bowlers and knock the opposition over, but that isn’t happening any more…I suppose what we’ve done to teams in the past, they are now doing to us.”

While Clarke can’t quite bring himself to deliver the last rites to Australia’s long reign of Test supremacy, tellingly he also refuses to lend support to the ICC’s rankings which continue to place Australia at the summit.

“That’s not for me to say, he replies, surprisingly devoid of the customary Australian confidence. “It is up to the opposition we play to decide whether we are still the best in the world, they will work that out and be able to tell you. The Test scene is changing, we now need to learn from our mistakes and try to find ways to score more runs and get 20 wickets because at the moment we aren’t doing those things enough.”

Amid Australia’s decline, Clarke himself has just enjoyed the most successful and prolific calendar year of his career. During 2008 he scored 1063 Test runs at an average of 50.61, almost double his previous best haul in a year, before starting this year with scores of 138 and 41 as Australia won a morale-boosting victory over South Africa in the third Test at Sydney.

This summer England will welcome back a very different cricketer to the prodigy who was on the last Ashes tour four years ago. After scoring 91 from 106 balls in the first Test at Lord’s he ultimately failed to live up to the hype and struggled like the rest of the Australian side before being promptly dropped on his return home.
Now Clarke is a more mature and wiser player, with a new game, still full of his natural flair and cavalier shots, but augmented now with a tightened technique and a useful ability to stick around and accumulate large scores.
And as a succession of greats of the modern game have left the Australian changing room over the last two years, Clarke, still only 27, has also increasingly taken on a more vocal and senior role in the side, and last year succeeded Adam Gilchrist as Australia’s vice-captain.

The Sydneysider is a naturally optimistic character, personable and chipper, who manfully attempts to remain positive whenever possible, and here, in the aftermath of the historic series defeat to South Africa, Australia’s Test captain-in-waiting talks about the reasons behind his country’s demise and the way back.

How do you explain the series defeats to both India and South Africa during the last six months?
Obviously we have lost a lot of great players, and now Matty Hayden has retired too, so there has been a changing of the guard. Playing India in India is always hard, we have only won there once in the last 40 years, and South Africa are a very good team who simply outplayed us.

Did the defeats come as a shock or have there been warning signs?
It is harder for us to continue playing the cricket we have over the last 15 years because we are now without so many of those legends. It is obvious we are in a rebuilding period, especially with the Test side, and we have to acknowledge that. We don’t want to make excuses, because we still have the same goal to win every Test. We have to be patient with the new guys. There is a lot of talent floating about and it will take time before they can live up to the greats who have just retired. No one expects them to come straight in and immediately be the new Hayden, McGrath or Gilchrist.

So what is missing from the current Australian side?
We need to recapture the consistency that our success was built upon. What has let us down is that we had opportunities to win some of these recent Tests and we didn’t grasp them. We are normally so good at taking a firm grip of Tests, so we let ourselves down by not doing that. We need to learn how to nail opponents once again.

After so much success how does it feel to be suddenly losing series?
It is definitely a new experience, and the truth is we don’t like it. I would love to win every Test match in three days, but that isn’t happening now. This is the new reality. It is hard to come to terms with not winning all the time, so we’re all having to deal with that, the Australian public, the media and the players. It is amazing that we are not bowling teams out like we used to on the last day.

Who is the stronger rival: South Africa or India?
They are hard to compare because we played them in different conditions. India have so many great players, and we played them in India, which is such a hard place to win. This was my first series against South Africa, and I found them a very tough team, winning like they did in Australia showed their quality, their batting was strong and their bowlers were tremendous. They will be even tougher opponents in South Africa next month.

Last year Ricky Ponting said Australia’s bowling attack had been brought back to the pack in Test cricket. Would you agree?
It is obvious we continue to miss Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. When I played with them I felt confident that they could bowl any opposition out on any given day on any wicket, they were so good. Losing those players has had a huge impact.

Are Australia any closer to finding a new spinner?
I guess at this stage we are still trying to find the right one. Some say we have no spinners, but that’s not true, we have a few guys who can play Test cricket and do a good job. But you can’t compare them to Shane Warne right now, he is the greatest bowler I have ever seen. I just think that the expectations need to be dropped a little bit for the new guys.

Is there any chance Shane Warne could come out of retirement?
Look, being a close mate of Warnie’s, I can’t see that there is any chance he will play Test cricket again. He is very happy with his new life at the moment, and he’s very busy. We speak all the time and I don’t see it happening.

Which of Australia’s new generation of bowlers most excite you?
Peter Siddle has got a lot talent because in only his fourth Test he got a five-for and was Man of the Match, so he should have a very successful Test career. Doug Bollinger has a good first-class record and there is an opportunity for him. There have been a lot of positives because some new guys have come in to the side shown they are capable of playing Test cricket.

How has the Australian changing room evolved since you first entered?
When I first came in to the team it was full of legends like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchirst, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath, but we are moving in to a new era now, the average age is getting younger, and I notice no one smokes any more too! We might have lost some experience, but there remains plenty of enthusiasm, talent, and although I hate this word, potential. The culture of representing Australia is as strong now as it always has been and we have the same goal of trying to win every game we play.

Has there been a moment when you’ve realised you were no longer ‘Pup’ and were now a senior player?
It was during last year when I got the vice-captaincy, and also at times when I look around the changing room and realise I am one of the more experienced guys. My role has changed and I feel very comfortable with that. I can relate to the new players as it doesn’t feel that long ago when I was making my own debut. In the past most of the team were older than me, but now guys in the side are either younger than or the same age.

Have you consciously taken more of a leading role in the side?
I have always been the type of guy who speaks their mind, and if something needs to be said I will say that. It is probably one of my strengths, although when I was younger it got me in trouble. I won’t let things simmer, I will come out and say how I feel around the team.

How would you describe the relationship between yourself and Ricky Ponting as captain and vice-captain?
On the field if I think something needs to be done I will approach Ricky and make suggestions. Throughout my whole career Ricky has always made me feel comfortable about doing that. Before I was even vice-captain if I wanted to say something he allowed me to. Ricky has a lot of experience, so I am still learning from him. No matter what it is about, on or off the field, our relationship is pretty good. I hope I bring some youthful enthusiasm to compliment Ricky’s experience. Our combination has been OK so far.

Do you think you have leadership qualities?
No one wants to hear me talk about myself like that. Put it this way I am really enjoying being vice-captain, and learning a lot from Ricky.

Was sending Andrew Symonds home from Darwin a test of you as a captain you had to pass? Did it prove you could make tough decisions?
I didn’t see it like that at the time. When it came up I didn’t think it was a personal test for me to pass or fail. At the time, and I told Simmo exactly this, we made the decision [to send him home] for the benefit of the Australian cricket side and Andrew Symonds himself. If you ask him know, he will agree with that decision. I didn’t make the decision on my own, it was with a few other people, but as I was the captain of that time I had to front the media and be the face of the decision.

Since that controversy Andrew Symonds has failed to recapture his best form, so what does the future hold for him now?
I still think Simmo has the same passion to play for Australia, and looking to the future he will continue to be a crucial part of the side.

You have just enjoyed the best year of your career: How would you account for all those runs?
Well, I wouldn’t say this has been the best year of my life, I would gladly give back all those runs for us to have beaten India and South Africa. Overall, it was a disappointing year. Those runs were pretty irrelevant because they didn’t help. The best year was beating England in the 2006/07 Ashes, because my runs meant something.

How has your approach to the game changed in the last year?
I have just grown up and matured a lot as a player and person and you can see that in my game. I have learned how I perform best. I now know what the best preparation is for me and how that helps me succeed. I have the mindset now that there is more to life than cricket, I understand that very well, but every time I walk out to bat I feel the same as I ever did. It isn’t that I was trying too hard when I got dropped three years ago, it is simply because I have naturally matured and know how to score runs.

Shane Warne has increasingly become your mentor: What have you learned from him?
It’s true Warnie plays a very important role in my career, and we speak all the time about cricket and life. He says he wants me to learn from his mistakes, but that’s probably not the right word because Warnie has no regrets. I guess he has seen the very best and worst of international cricket, he has spent a lot of time away from home, and I’m trying to learn from everything he’s been through. He has an amazing cricket brain, which I have always tried to take from. We have become good friends and I get as much advice about cricket and the lifestyle that goes with it. He would do anything for me.

In Australia you are treated as a celebrity. Does that ever make you uncomfortable or do you have to embrace it?
It is part of being a professional athlete, especially for a cricketer in Australia, so you have to live with it. II know I’m a role model and you have certain standards to uphold, but I am happy to accept that responsibility. It can be hard when you’re reading stuff in magazines about your personal life that is completely untrue. But it is a minor thing, and I wouldn’t swap my life now with anyone.

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Sachin Tendulkar : Interview with official website

Monday morning in a derelict mill in the trendiest part of downtown Mumbai and Sachin Tendulkar is shooting a TV commercial. He’s been here since 7am, getting into character: they’ve styled his hair, put loads of rings on his fingers and got him up in some kind of Starsky and Hutch-style outfit for the occasion, a shoot for mobile-phone company Airtel. Later, the French director will be having him hoisted up on pulleys for an action sequence. Tendulkar bears it all with good grace. This – apart from being the greatest, most exciting batsman of his generation – is what he does. In India he’s the face of adidas, Visa, Pepsi, TVS motorbikes, Fiat, Philips, ESPN; from billboards and TV screens, the image of cricket’s greatest-ever icon beams out.

Our official arrives at 9.30 and is ushered to Tendulkar’s trailer – a huge, yellow affair, Bollywood-impressive from the outside, plain on the inside – to wait for Sachin, with his agent, Vinod Naidu. As we wait, Naidu is on the phone, taking one call after another, apparently striking deals left, right and centre. Eventually, the man himself appears, the director having given him a break from shooting, and he sits down to talk to us. We make small talk about his golf – he’s always been a big hitter but has struggled with his radar: he assures us he’s much improved – and his favourite ground in England: Cheltenham, apparently. He has a family connection there: it is where his wife’s, English, grandmother lives.

Polite, humble, quietly spoken, Tendulkar talks in a slow, considered.
manner, leaving long pauses before answering interviewing’s questions, smiling and laughing readily. The man is laidback and friendly, almost impossibly polite and smiley, almost enough to make you forget that he is India’s biggest sports star and the centre of a multi-million rupee industry.

When, eventually, it’s time for lunch, we realise exactly who we’re with: Tendulkar sends out for lunch to his own restaurant, 10 minutes away in downtown Mumbai. He’s exceedingly enthusiastic about the restaurant and orders what seems like a tremendous amount of food, sampling his own menu to the max.

It’s been a difficult year for the Little Master. During the Indian season, his tennis elbow flared up again, forcing him to miss key games. There was talk that he would not make the Pakistan series; that his career might even be over. But within a fortnight of our meeting, he would be back on the field for India and completing his 10,000th run in Test cricket – the fifth man to do so – and putting all the doubts behind him. Over a morning, in between bouts of his other day job of being a celebrity, the greatest batsman of the modern era reflected on his career to date, his future – and much more besides.

Did you ever think that your recent injury might end your career?

No, at no stage did I think of retiring. I know the injury was extremely bad, but it’s getting better – keeping my fingers crossed. It was a terrible injury to have, but I have consulted a lot of doctors and the general feedback was that you just have to give yourself time and it will get better. I just had to be patient and do what my physio and doctor said.

What goals do you have left in the game?

There are no goals as such. I just want to go out and score as many runs as possible. Winning the World Cup would be the ultimate for sure…

How would you say your game has changed over the 15 years you’ve been playing for India?

There have definitely been changes. When you start, you have problems selecting your shots. But as time goes by, you know when is the right time to play particular shots – and you time them better, too.

It’s all about taking in what’s happening around you as quickly as possible – and that comes with experience, I think. You can’t expect a 16 year old to think like somebody who is 34 or 35. Early in your career you don’t think whether the way you’re playing is a risky route or a safer route, you just want to get to the destination come what may. But, as time goes by, you cut down on the risks you take and try to make your game as compact as
possible. While doing that, you discover many other avenues to get to the same destination. That’s what I think has happened to me over the past 15 years: I have learned to minimise the risk factor yet try to get to the same destination.

Some batters cut out riskier shots – the hook, say – altogether…

I do still hook, but the timing has to be right. Sometimes you need to take calculated risks and when it comes off, no-one mentions the risks you took at the start of your innings. But if you take risks and fail, you immediately have an expert asking, “Why did he do that?” You have to see the success rate and if you have been successful doing or playing in that manner I guess that’s the way to go about it.

Who has helped you change your game?

I don’t think anyone has helped me change my game in particular. But I have discussed my
batting and cricket in general with plenty of players and with my brother – so changes come in gradually. Nobody has made any special effort to change my game. It is all about adapting: You have to be flexible; all I have tried to do is to keep myself as flexible as possible and try to play according
to the situation. You can’t just go bang bang everyday… there are times where you just have to stay at the wicket and don’t have to think about scoring quickly. Every afternoon is going to be different – so you need to work out what type of an afternoon it is and play accordingly.

Are there areas of your batting that you’re still working on? Can you still improve?

You can improve or develop your game up to a certain extent and when you reach that spot I think it is important to stay there as long as possible. Just to stay there takes a lot of hard work. That’s what I’m focusing on. There are days when you get everything right and everything seems to be very easy and there are days when you won’t get anything right: it’s down to your body, it’s not a machine that will deliver every morning, 100 per cent. Sometimes you think differently, sometimes your body is aching, sometimes you are not feeling up to it. Eventually what really matters is your mental strength and hunger to succeed.

Do you do much work on your bowling?

Not really. I enjoy bowling and I think it isdifferent to what any regular bowler would do. I am not afraid of experimenting; my job is to bowl for two or three overs and try out things and catch the batsman by surprise. If I can do that and get a breakthrough I have done my job. I don’t intend to bowl 20 overs a day:I don’t think my body is geared up for that – my job is to bowl six or seven overs a day.

Do you keep a close check on your career stats?

Not really, but yeah, I know roughly where I stand. It’s unavoidable. Every time you see the television or you go through the magazines you get to see those things. It always stays in there, but it’s not at all in the front of my mind. That is taken up by the team’s interest and whatever the team’s aims are, you are going out to achieve those; and while achieving those targets you get to this level, this personal level – and if that happens I am pretty much happy.

How many bats do you have on the go at once?

In my kit bag I may have six bats when I am travelling, but normally you end up playing with either one or two. Obviously you have your favourite ones depending on what kind of surfaces you play on. When you play on tracks where you don’t have much bounce,if you’re a player who likes to play on the rise, you’re bound to crack the bottom of your bat. I end up cracking virtually 100 out of 100 bat
bottoms and I have to have a couple of bats ready at all times. If you’re somebody who likes to play on the rise, then you have to be prepared.

Has John Wright made India more like Australia? Has he brought in a more
professional approach to the team?

I don’t think so. He has tried to change our playing style but this has been by bringing in more discipline and making the whole team far better organised. It’s good to be talented, but it is equally important to manage that talent correctly and know how to focus that energy in the right direction – and that’s what he has tried to do for the team, and he has managed to do this fantastically.

You can’t make an ordinary player a brilliant player just by changing the coach. It has to come from within and the player needs to have immense ability in the first place.

One thing that seems to have changed over the years has been India’s approach to

fielding and out-cricket. Is that fair?

Cricket not only in India but all over the world has changed, I would say, while I’ve been playing. If you look at one-day cricket in the ’80s, a target of 200–235 was very good and today you are talking about 285 and even then you’re not 100 per cent sure that it’s a winning total: if the opposition get off to a flyer or don’t lose early wickets, you know the game is still wide open. It’s a huge difference between 235 and 285. Batsmen are inventing different shots and they’re prepared to take chances.

But the whole game has changed: in the ’80s there were no computers and now every team has one and we all are planning: you can make out precisely when and where the runs have been made in boundaries and when in singles and when the bowlers have bowled dot balls. Getting all this detail means there can be more study of playing, so the competitiveness and the style of play is going to be different. It has changed cricket in a big way, no doubt about it.

One of the extensions of that in England is Twenty20: is that something that excites you?

It’s an interesting concept. I’m sure it will teach not only the batter but the bowler to play under pressure when the game is tight. If sides can score 200 runs in 20 overs then both batters and bowlers will start thinking differently: if you can chase 200 runs in 20 overs, then why can’t you chase 285 runs in 50 overs? I feel it is tremendous entertainment for people: you don’t end up sitting at the ground for eight to nine hours: it’s over in literally three or four hours and you have seen more shots being played. For the players, it’s about innovation and whoever is prepared to be innovative is going to do well. There’s not much time to get into it and then play your shots, so basically you have to be right on the ball right from ball one. Twenty20 hasn’t picked up here in India yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, very shortly, it came here.

Would you consider playing baseball? Have you ever been asked?

[laughs] I was once asked to come and play with the Toronto Blue Jays – just an exhibition game, nothing serious. But we were playing the next day so I couldn’t go there. I have tried it a couple of times in the US on a baseball pitching machine. It is interesting, but I would not take it up seriously for various reasons. For me it would only be for fun.

To play any game at a competitive level is going to be tough, and you know to get to that level is not easy – it will take a long time and plenty of hours in the middle. Nobody becomes successful overnight.

Would you like to come and play county cricket in England again?

Not at this stage. My body needs time to recover and just to switch off my mind and spend time with my family – so it would be difficult to find the time to play county cricket. I would love to, but don’t think
my body will co-operate at this stage – or my mind.

We play so much cricket and you need to take whatever time you can get to switch off your mind and to recharge your batteries. If I spend my time away from playing for India playing cricket somewhere else, then I don’t think I will be in a position to play cricket for India with the full intensity you need. The prime focus for me is playing for India and to be 100 per cent there. Whatever I do in the middle will need focusing 100 per cent and I want to focus all my energy for playing for India.

What will you do when you retire?

[laughs] As I said earlier, I have not thought about retirement. I believe there is cricket left in me and once I have exhausted that then I’ll start thinking about what else I can do.

Given the extreme attention you attract from the Indian public, have you considered living abroad when you retire?

Just holidaying abroad is good; just to see different places and get to do the normal things that I miss here in India, like playing with my kids in the park and all those things. It’s extremely important for me and the family that I do the normal things with them; I don’t want to miss out on that. So
it’s important to go to places where I can be a normal person and get to do those things. But, for sure I will stay living in India when I do retire. For sure.

Sachin on…

MUSIC:
“I’ve got plenty of music. Mainly it is Dire Straits, U2, Eagles, Pink Floyd… and then a lot of Indian music like Lata Mangeshkar – she is a great great singer – Kishore Kumar, Mohd Rafi etc… And then the Gypsy Kings as well, so it’s a mixture of everything.
Very few singers from the new generation have actually caught my attention – I am more into the Knopflers and Roger Waters and all those.”

“HIS CHARITY WORK: My mother-in law has been involved with the same charity for over 30 years; its work is about going to slums and teaching the kids how one can make life better through education. It’s just not telling them or giving them big lectures, but spending time teaching them how to do things and keeping track of how they work. I have been supporting
them now for seven or eight years. I’ve kept it pretty low-key and that’s how I want it to be. The kids are happy; they are benefiting: a lot things are being done for them, like the other day when I participated in the Mumbai Marathon – I was asked by the organisers not to run due to security reasons – but a couple of the sponsors have chipped in big money and helped the charity in a big way. I am glad people are willing to show their support and contribute.
All I can say is it has made a good start and it shouldn’t stop here.”

TURNING DOWN ENDORSEMENTS:
“I have. I have always stayed away from promoting alcohol and tobacco. I’ve been approached but have stayed away.”

WEARING A DISGUISE:
“I did try that – false beards and so on – just for fun. My friends and my wife were challenging me that I couldn’t go out in public. I said ‘Yeah, I can’ and it was out of fun that I tried a disguise. But I am comfortable without them.”

WANTING TO BE A RACING DRIVER
“I would have liked that. I liked racing and you obviously can’t race on the street – you have to stick to go-karting on the track where it’s extremely safe to zoom around. I have enjoyed driving in England: the roads are extremely good there”

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