Cricket Journey Quotes

Moving to South Africa and trying to make a mark as a cricketer and then make it to the international team hasn't been easy. This is why I want to enjoy every moment of it.

I've played cricket seriously since I was eight years old, when I first played for the Essex under-11s. I can't just turn it off.

We think it is a really important part of your journey, as an international player, that you come in and you want it to feel like it's the pinnacle of the game. That you want to come back into that environment. You don't want to think, 'Well, I'd much prefer playing for Sussex,' or your county.

I was born in a small village in Kerala. From there, I went on to play for the Kerala state team and international test cricket for India, and now I am working in TV shows and cinema... Any miracle can happen.

Coming out of the Ashes in 2013-14 and the World Cup in 2015 I realised how much I wanted to be a force in international cricket.

International sport is a lonely journey. You compete with one's self and try to grow as a cricketer.

The last three-fours years which I have been playing domestic cricket and international, I learnt a lot. I wouldn't say it has been great or fantastic, but it has been a roller-coaster journey.

Playing for India was a memorable journey, and I tried to make it more memorable for my team mates and the Indian cricket fans. I believe that I was reasonably successful in doing so.

Before I made my Test debut, I had played nearly nine years of first-class cricket.

I would definitely say the Nidahas Trophy was a life-changing experience as a cricketer for me.

I played a lot of my early cricket in Haridwar and Dehradun. But I just had to come to Delhi if I had to make a career out of it.

In all my years of cricket, I've given hundreds of interviews and done dozens of TV shows, but what you will read in my memoir are the stories and thoughts I've never shared openly.

My father was a great mentor to me and is someone I admire and look up to. However, it was my mum who was more of a driving force when it came to me and cricket - she constantly encouraged me to always remember to have fun when playing. And Mum was the one who took me round the grounds at the beginning of my career.

It has been a difficult journey for me, which started where I used to live: in Virar. All credit to my dad, as he was the only one who took me everywhere. He used to take me to matches and practices, and they were all far away from my home in Virar.

School cricket is where we all start. The journey of a cricketer starts from there, and it was the same for me.

The biggest challenge I faced when I started playing in the 90s was my immediate family members were not very keen that I get into sport, leave alone cricket.