'Hopefully, there's still a long way to go'

How do you look at Australia's upcoming tour of India? There's a school of thought that suggests they'll succumb to spin once again ...
I think it's going to be tough for us as well. Australia are a great side, and they did exceedingly well in Sri Lanka not so long ago, fighting back very hard when it looked like they might lose a couple of the Tests. They have a reputation for never giving up, and everyone recognises them as the No. 1 side in the world. They deserve that status because they've beaten every other country [except India], both home and away. It's very difficult to predict anything, though I can say with certainty that it will be an exciting series.

After the drawn series in Australia, and the win in Pakistan, do you think India have strong claims to being the world's second-best Test side?
We still have to go to South Africa and do well. When we start to win series abroad on a regular basis, then I can say that we are definitely No. 2. But right now, there are three or four teams pretty close together - England, New Zealand, South Africa and India. If anyone wants to be the undisputed No. 2, they'll have to start winning wherever they go.

How significant was that victory in Pakistan?
It was a massive tour, coming after almost 15 years. That's a long time and because of it, the tour was about more than just cricket. We were treated wonderfully by the Pakistani people. There had been security concerns earlier, but once we got there, the hospitality we received was remarkable, unforgettable. I don't think we'll ever forget that. The people made it a memorable tour for us. As for the cricket, it is the most important tour. The rivalry goes back many years, and that makes it exciting, knowing that the supporters will celebrate a little more than usual when you win.

How different did you find it this time, having been just a kid when you first toured there?
To be honest, I remember little of my first tour. I was just so excited to be part of the Indian team. I just wanted to go out and play as much as possible. Nothing tired me out. And being a food lover, I really enjoyed the cuisine as well. This time too, I was looking forward to eating there. I remember a fair bit of hostility on the field. You expect that, because Test cricket is hard cricket and you're expected to be tough in the middle. This time, I was the senior-most team member, and had a different role to play. I kept telling all the boys how exciting the tour was going to be, and how the memories would stay with them forever. And it turned out that way. The one-day matches were very closely contested, and lifting the trophy in both one-dayers and Tests was a thrilling experience because we hadn't forgotten how they beat us at Chennai [first match of a drawn two-Test series] and Kolkata [one-off match that was part of the Asian Test Championship] in 1999. We were desperate to make the fans proud.

What difference has it made being part of such a strong batting line-up? A few years ago, the more cynical fans would say, "Tendulkar out, game over" ...
I always felt that we had talented batsmen. I was very confident about my team-mates, and knew that it was only a matter of time before they would leave their own imprints on the game. As for my thought processes, I don't think they've changed at all. I have always given my best, regardless of whether the others are scoring runs or not. You can't be thinking of five other guys while batting. You have to bat as best you can, and when you score runs, it all adds up.

Take someone like Rahul Dravid, though, who's been in such phenomenal form for a fair while now ...
Dravid has done very well, and it's not been by sitting back at home. He's worked very hard for it. His mental toughness is phenomenal, and he's a very talented and big-hearted person, who loves a challenge. So his success doesn't surprise me.

Have the rigours of international cricket caught up with you? Do you still feel that you can bat as you did, say, back in 1998?
At Sydney [Steve Waugh's farewell], I batted for over one-and-a-half days, and I was still running hard. My fitness level is pretty good.

How desperate were you when you walked out in that match? On a personal level, it had been a tour to forget, with a lot going against you ...
At Sydney, I just decided when I walked out to bat that I wasn't going to get out. No matter how long I batted, I wasn't going to get out. That was the only thing on my mind. Sometimes, when it's not clicking, you've got to alter your game and your thinking. Earlier in the series, I'd try to play a couple of big shots and it didn't work for me. So I told myself, if luck isn't in my favour, I shall just play accordingly, and cut out that shot.

Steve Waugh got the exit all legends deserve, caught by an all-time great, off another titan's bowling. What were you thinking of when you took that catch?
Honestly, I wasn't thinking that I had a hand in his last dismissal. I was thinking of how we could pull off the win ... I think there were still three or four overs left. But once I realised that it was his last innings, I ran all the way from the boundary to congratulate him. I said, "You've made every Australian proud, and every cricketer admires you." That's about it really, nothing more.

You enjoy playing in Australia, don't you?
It's a great country to tour. I find the people very friendly, and they enjoy their game. The atmosphere inside the grounds is totally different to anywhere else. Also, playing the best team in the world makes it even more of a challenge.

And the crowds there have always taken a special shine to you ...
I'm glad people turned up to watch. It's difficult for me to talk about myself, but you feel happy when you know that some people have come to watch you play. It makes you extra-keen to go out and produce an exciting innings for them.

What do you think of the Ugly Australian image?
I don't think the sledging problem is that bad. There have been a couple of instances where you felt that what happened wasn't good for the game. But those things happen in the spur of the moment when you just lose your temper. On the whole, I didn't feel it was a problem, and I've enjoyed playing against them.

What did you feel when a simple statement of disappointment after that declaration when you had 194 during the Multan Test was made into something more than it was?
I was disappointed by the reaction to what I said. The press will do it, when they want to create controversies. I feel that I'm allowed to speak my mind, and say what I feel. I'm as human as everyone else. I just replied to a question. I was disappointed, and when asked if I was, I said "Yes". If I had said "No", I'd have been lying. But you don't carry such disappointments onto the field the next day. I didn't read a single article about it, though, didn't even log on to the internet to see who had written what. It didn't matter what was written, because Rahul and I had cleared up the matter with each other.

Do you read newspapers on tour?
I try to steer clear of them.

Do you tend to put in an extra effort with the ball when you've failed with the bat? At both Adelaide (2003) and Kolkata (2001), your spells were instrumental in Indian victories, though you didn't contribute with the bat ...
Even if I've scored a hundred, I'd still be trying to get the batsmen out. My job as a bowler is to come up with surprises, I can't be like Anil Kumble who can bowl 35 overs with tremendous accuracy. For me to get breakthroughs, I have to try what's not expected, mix and match a few deliveries. Kolkata and Adelaide are not the only time I've done that, so there's no conscious effort to compensate with the ball when I fail with the bat.

You do have a happy habit of making vital breakthroughs.
I still consider myself an irregular bowler, well maybe a little more than that.

When you see those you played with, like Nasser Hussain, Chris Cairns and Michael Slater, leave the game, does it make you more conscious of the sand trickling down the timer?
It's only now that you mention it that I realise that many of my contemporaries have retired and I'm still playing. Does it make me more conscious of the time left? Not really. I'm only 31, and there have been players in the past who have started their careers at that age, or even later. Hopefully, there's still a long way to go.

Coming to Hussain, what did you feel about the tactics he used against you in 2001 and 2002, getting Ashley Giles to bowl that negative leg-stump line?
I just treated it very normally. For me, it was just another facet of Test cricket, and I was prepared to be patient. It really didn't matter. I still scored more than 300 runs in India, and over 400 in England - so over 700 runs in seven Tests. I was pretty happy with that.

Who's your favourite English player, among those you've played with?
Ian Botham and David Gower are two I've always liked. Graham Gooch too. These were players who I played against in 1990. But I must also mention guys like Mike Gatting, Robin Smith, Graeme Hick and Michael Atherton - who was a very gutsy player. From the current lot, Graham Thorpe is an exciting player. Nasser Hussain was a good captain, I felt. Andrew Flintoff is a fine talent. I didn't get to watch people like Geoff Boycott, except on video cassette.

Do you remember your scores? Your average? How much importance do you give to such figures?
I do, more or less. I'm not one of those who could say, "My average is 52.63 or 49.41" ... I'm not into all that. But in the back of my mind, I know how much I average. To a certain extent, I would say that the average indicates a batsman's quality.

Are Tests more important to you than one-dayers?
Both are just as important to me. They test your ability on different levels. In Test cricket, you can control the pace of a game, and if you want to block for an hour, you can do that. But in one-day cricket, you have to keep up with the pace of the game. The main priority is always to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Do you feel that the quality of bowling has declined over the past few seasons?
I don't think so. We have [Muttiah] Muralitharan and Shane Warne, both with over 500 wickets. And then, you have Anil [Kumble] with nearly 400. You have Glenn McGrath. Then you have [Jason] Gillespie, [Brett] Lee. You have Shoaib [Akhtar], [Mohammad] Sami, [Steve] Harmison, [Andrew] Flintoff, [Matthew] Hoggard. West Indies and New Zealand have some promising quick bowlers too. You have to understand that nobody becomes a great bowler overnight. With the exception of McGrath, none of these guys have been around very long. It takes a decade or more to be recognised as an all-time great. There have been many who have done exceedingly well for a couple of seasons and then disappeared.

Have you ever felt like quitting?
Oh, no, I've never thought of giving the game up. Never felt like it. Sometimes you feel that you could have done better, but you never feel like quitting.

When you look back, was there a moment in your career when you felt that you weren't out of place in international cricket?
It came in my second innings. We played the second Test at Faisalabad in 1989. My first innings had been a disaster. When I walked out, I told myself that I would do my best to just stay at the wicket, even if I didn't score runs. I actually managed to stay out there more than four hours, and I said to myself, "You can handle this; it's not a place where you don't belong."

When you started out, many hoped that you and Vinod Kambli would be a fixture in the side for years to come. Where do you think it went wrong for him?
I thought he had some injuries in between, and a couple of bad tours. It's very hard to pinpoint one reason. Maybe to a certain extent, a lack of discipline also cost him.

Tell us a little bit about your restaurant in Mumbai ...
About four years ago, Mark Mascarenhas [his agent, who died in a road accident in 2002] wanted to set up something for me, something that would hold my interest after my playing days were over. And because I'm a big-time foodie, he said, "Why don't you start a restaurant?" He said that I wouldn't need to divert my energy right now, and that someone else could run it. It was his idea. Mark then met Sanjay Narang, and we decided to go ahead with the concept.

But you've also invested plenty of your own time, haven't you?
I've tasted each and every item on the menu. I know everything about the restaurant, from the lights to the forks and knives, because they've all been selected by me. There are four or five of us, and in my free time, we've sat and planned everything. A lot of hard work has gone into it.

You enjoy cooking yourself, don't you? Anything that you're especially good at?
Yes, I do enjoy it. I can make a very nice prawn curry, and fish.

What do you like to do with your time away from the game?
I like to spend it with the kids. That's the best thing in my life, nothing matches that. My daughter is not into cricket, my son's just started playing with a soft ball and occasionally with a harder one. It's great fun. He bats left-handed. I have to get out when he's bowling, and I also have to bowl the odd loose ball so that he can hit me for boundaries.

Do you take a keen interest in other sports?
I look forward to Formula One events, and tennis. I also watch Wimbledon very closely, and enjoyed it immensely this time. Most of the F1 guys know me. Those at Ferrari know me, and I've also met [Juan Pablo] Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. Mark Webber is a big fan of cricket, so he's heard of me.

Did Ferrari let you take the car out for a spin?
Oh, no, not yet. Each time I've been in the paddock, it's been just before a race, so it hasn't been possible. But given a chance, I'd love to drive one.

You've always been viewed as a role model in India. How much has that had to do with your refusal of any sort of tobacco or alcohol advertisements?
I've received huge offers, and turned them down, because it's against my principles. I just feel that I can't be doing that. They have tried to tempt me, but I think my family has really helped me. It was never an option.

Do you ever look ahead, and think of what will happen once you leave a cricket field for the last time?
I don't worry about when it will all end, because nothing stays the same in this world. My cricket will have to stop someday. I won't be the first one to have it happen to him. It will be a tough decision when it happens, because it's hard to imagine my life without cricket. Half my life has been spent playing cricket for India. I haven't imagined a future for myself beyond that, because I want to savour the remaining years of my career.

If a 16-year-old prodigy came to you for advice, what would you say to him?
I'd just tell him not to find shortcuts. He's got where he is because of talent, hard work, discipline, dedication and all the other qualities you need. Don't change. You just need to be yourself, and try and learn more about the game. The more hours you spend in the middle, the more you discover new things about your game, no matter how experienced you might be. Just be sincere and honest, and don't forget what got you there in the first place. This was actually my father's advice to me, and I'd like to pass it on to those who care to listen.