Quote

I have made lots of mistakes on and off the pitch, and you can only learn from them. If I can get that across, then hopefully I am doing something right.

In sport, there is always room for improvement. Whenever I see my innings against the West Indies or Australia, I think, 'Maybe, I could have done this better or should have changed that.' See, cricket is a skill game, and one can always improve upon the impact one has on an innings.

I'm proud of what I've achieved in cricket, as once I didn't think I was good enough.

Before you lay a foundation on the cricket field, there should be a solid foundation in your heart and you start building on that. After that as you start playing more and more matches, you learn how to score runs and how to take wickets.

Sports teaches you there is always a second innings in life. If you fail today, there's a second innings maybe two days later. Maybe there's another opportunity coming up three or six months later. If you look at mistake as learnings and commit never to make a same mistake again, then you actually get better with every mistake that you make.

My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.

If you play good cricket, a lot of bad things get hidden.

I was just a kid who had arrived in the world of professional football and thought he could do anything he wanted. But I have learned from my mistakes. I have done everything to change, both on and off the pitch.

In a cricket career, your life is in some ways controlled for you. You have no control over schedules, you have no control about where you want to play, you don't have control over that as a cricketer.