I've had 12 operations so far.
- 12 operations! - Yeah, 12 surgeries.
Total.
My knee, elbow, hamstring... all have had surgeries.
Don't make me count more. That's it. Don't want anymore.
- 12 is enough. - 12 is enough.
Which body part hasn't had an operation yet?
The tongue!
This is everybody's favourite impression of yours, you ask anyone about Ashish Nehra...
You know that buffalo of ours... Yuvraj Singh. He started this.
He started it and made it popular, because I've never seen you do that. He's exaggerated it so much.
Yuvraj Singh has spread the rumour that Ashish Nehra is the biggest miser!
The biggest miser is Ashish Nehra.
Right? My comeback is... have you heard of the saying, the guilty one always gets defensive.
The police asks "Who stole this?"
"Sir, it wasn't me!"
Before anyone says anything, he made that comment first.
And he added poor Virat Kohli's name to it.
Have got nothing else to say after this. I leave it to you to understand!
But he does pay. Whenever we go out he foots the bill…
And that day it rains.
What is that story about Viru (Virender Sehwag)? Going for training early in the morning...
That the two of you used to travel by scooter.
- Viru used to pick you up or was it you? - Viru used to pick me up.
He used to say in Najafgarh. I used to be in Delhi cantonment.
Then came Feroz Shah Kotla. We had to reach in the morning around 8 - 8:30.
So Viru used to pick me up from my house and then we would be on our way.
He had a big kitbag and I had my small bowlers kitbag.
While going, Viru used to ride while I would hug the kitbags and sleep.
While coming back, I used to ride and Viru slept.
Sometimes Viru would come to pick me up and I would still be sleeping.
So my dad used to say, "He's still sleeping, you wake him up please."
So that was my father... my mom used to keep a glass of milk for me.
But I never drank the milk. So Virender Sehwag used to drink it all.
Then Viru would wake me up and I would say, "Just give me 15 minutes".
15 minutes would become 25 minutes.
Like how today's breakfast has already become lunch.
How are you not on any social media?
Just like that, I'm not a big fan. I barely even use my phone.
I've just learned how to use WhatsApp in the past 5 - 6 months.
In the year 2017 you've learned how to use WhatsApp?
My wife bought me an iPhone 7. So a guy comes up to me and says...
"Oh sir, you have an iPhone 7. How good is it? Is it better than the 6?"
I tell him, "Listen brother, my previous phone was a Nokia E51.
I've jumped straight from that to this. I have no idea what the iPhone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was.
It is what it is".
He says, "But there are so many features in it".
I said, "All I know is WhatsApp, the green button and the red button, apart from that I know nothing".
But you will be damn good on twitter.
Who knows, people have been after me saying they'll pay me, per month that much...
This guy came to me and said, "Do 3 tweets a month and we'll pay you Rs 80 lakhs for the year.
But we will tell you what to tweet".
I tell them, "I don't listen to anyone, no one can tell me what to do.
I'll do what my heart tells me to. Get lost now".
If someone tells me to walk naked from here to there...
...and they'll give me 2 crore, that doesn't mean I'm going to walk naked.
- 5 crore. - No.
- 10 crore. - No.
- 20 crore. - No.
- You have to have a price! - No, there's no price.
- 50 crore. - No.
- I'm sure you'll do it for 50 crore. - No, I wont do it.
If I tell you to walk naked from here to there for 50 crores, you won't do it?
No, I won't.
By naked I mean complete naked.
- With your underwear on? - Then no problem, I'll do it.
For free?
We go into the pool with our underwear on don't we?
So, if someone tells me to walk with my underwear on...
...the one like this… Calvin Klein or VIP Frenchie so called...
I'll do it then.
That is different.
10 crore?
- 1 crore! - In my underwear?
- I'll do it for 1. - For 1 crore.
I wear my underwear to the pool everyday anyway, so I'm getting 1 crore for free anyway.
I remember when Zak was on the show...
...he said that the day you guys won the World Cup...
...you, the trophy and Arush (son) were all in his room...
...that night. And he said that you ordered…
50 - 40 omelettes, basically we ordered 40 American styled breakfast.
About 40. We did end up eating at least 15-20 of them.
- What are you saying? - Yes.
He said they were just lying there, you ordered them and left.
Why don't you ask what time I left? I left at 8:30 in the morning.
8:30 in the morning! Otherwise when will a guy go home?
We had to meet the President in the evening.
To meet the President one must look a little bit presentable.
I should be at least standing straight.
When did we win the World Cup? On the 2nd of April, right!
It had been 2 years to the day since I got married, my anniversary is on the 2nd of April.
I was ready to get married on the 1st but people said not to...
...or else they'll think it's an April fools prank.
- So that's why I changed the plan by a day. - Just a little bit.
My wedding got planned and ready in 7 days.
We were just talking, I told Gattu Kapoor, Anjana Sharma and Jad (Ajay Jadeja)...
...we were at Anjana's house.
"Tell me the date". That's Gattu Kapoor's dialogue, "Just tell me the date".
I tell him, "Let's do it on the 1st of April". He says, "All right you've got...
...1 year and 7 days to plan this". I said, "No, this 1st of April, in 7 days".
He says, "What are you saying? I'm talking about a wedding, not a birthday".
I say, "Yes."
He asks Anjali, "What do you have at home?" "What do you mean?", she asks.
"Alcohol", he replies. "JD (Jack Daniels)".
"Should I open it? Are you sure? You won't make me waste it will you?"
He opened the bottle, we all poured a little bit. He says, "Shot. You're sure, right?"
I told this to Rushma (wife), she thought I was drunk.
I told her in the morning again.
Again on the 24th of March.
She was here on the 26th with her mother.
Everyone came on the 28th/29th.
We had our function in the hotel on the 30th.
We got married on the 2nd and that was that.
Flower.
Now all you have to do is just dance.
I'll even do that after I stop playing. Don't know how to dance though. Need 2 vodkas for that.
You spend every summer there, right? For 2 months, with the in-laws? Hospitality?
My mother-in-law does so much for me and she's the best cook.
It's a Gujarati household. Do you know what they talk about during breakfast?
They talk about lunch.
And the conversations during lunch time is, whether there should be samosas...
...or kachoris with tea?
And after that what's for dinner? Full eating.
The household was vegetarian but then I came along and ...
...spoiled it a bit.
There's a kitchen at the back where chicken, prawn and fish gets made for me and my son.
- My menu is the same everyday. - What's your breakfast menu?
First, a cup of tea, without that the engine doesn't start...
Diesel engine... now you can't even stay diesel its CNG.
After that I have coconut water and cut papaya.
Then one day it'll be muesli with cold milk with cut banana.
On another day it'll be porridge.
After that an egg white omelet with toast and a glass of milk...
...either with turmeric or almonds and at times with a glass and a half of milk...
...with two bananas some honey and one cardamom and blend them. Cold.
- Smoothie. - Smoothie.
And some times a dosa, an egg white omelet or masala.
Occasionally every 15 - 20 days, aloo paratha.
With a lot of turmeric and...
...yogurt on the side and to digest all those parathas, a cup of hot tea.
But for that I need to be training for 3-4 hours for me to enjoy the paratha...
...otherwise all you're left with is dough in your stomach.
And if that happens then you tell God, "I'll rather be dead than be constipated".
Is it time for your stretch now?
- Does Rushma understand cricket? - Rushma will set up the field.
What are you saying? Field setting?
I have to keep her far away from cricket.
She'll tell me, "You shouldn't have bowled that slower ball you should have bowled a yorker".
What are you saying?
She used to watch cricket even before she met me. I met Rushma during the tour in 2002.
She came to The Oval to watch a match.
Brother, you mean you have a coach at home.
So that means in your personal life your wife tells you how to behave.
And on the flip side she tells you how to behave on the field as well.
All the big decisions at home...
...I make all the big decisions that are there in my life.
Like who should be the Prime Minister?
Was this movie good or not?
Who batted well today?
All the small decisions like where should we go for a vacation...
...where should we invest our money, where should we buy a house...
...what car should we get, what clothes to wear...
...all those small decisions are made by the wife.
- OK! - All the big decisions are mine.
This means all the talk in the air is yours...
...and the practical, daily use decisions are from Rushma.
- Which school will the kids will go to? - Yeah, all the small decisions.
You don't need to get involved in all these petty matters.
- I have no time. Busy! - No time.
Can't waste applying your brains on such trivial things.
I have to handle such a big country.
Kashmir to Kanyakumari is mine. Have to take care of it.
So you entertained everybody, but who entertained you?
Who did you find entertaining?
Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma at times...
...and now Hardik Pandya as well.
Even he entertains me a lot.
He sleeps with his room's door open at night.
Once I was coming back at 2 am and I asked him, "Why is your door open?"
He says, "Everyone's welcome, even at night time".
He's always in style. Gel in his hair... I mean full stylish.
But when you guys started, there were so many seniors, you couldn't do that much...
- ...styling. - No, I was never really interested.
Amongst us there was only one who was interested in all these things.
Mr. (Yuvraj) Singh.
Even at that time. Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh... not interested. Just simple needs.
Sideway cap, cars, sunglasses, bags, shoes - that was all Yuvraj Singh.
Today also his mind works in the same way.
But not his body.
Even in London, he needs at least an S-class Mercedes, with driver.
With cap.
With cap that also sideways.
When you joined which senior player were you the closest to?
I was like salt and sugar, I could blend with anything.
- Oh wow. - I was fine with all of them.
- Nothing bothers me. - But how come...
...this world we live in you need diplomacy, correctness.
Some people needed the correctness, but that was never my thought process.
I'm not a politician that I need to be politically correct. What I feel is right, I talk about it.
And when I feel there's something wrong, I don't talk about it.
The fist test match I played, Harbhajan Singh and I were roommates for 6 - 7 days.
Same in 2000-2001, after that gradually they all became my friends.
I used to have a lot of fun with (Javagal) Srinath. Who was our senior.
Full funny, Bablu paaji.
In 2001, VVS Laxman was my roommate in Zimbabwe for good 6 weeks.
He's clean and quiet, right? A good boy, a typical good boy.
At the time we were North & East.
Obviously Laxman is 5 - 6 years older than me also.
And I was 22 in 2001. And at 22...
Full of energy.
If I'm like this now, you can only imagine how I was then.
You would be destructive. destructive.com, come to our website.
You played under so many captains, how many captains have you player under? 7 or 8?
About 5. The first time I played for India, it was under Mohammed Azharuddin.
So Azhar (Mohammed Azharuddin), Dada (Sourav Ganguly).
Rahul Dravid.
- Anil (Kumble). - MS Dhoni.
And now Chikoo ji (Virat Kohli).
So that's 6.
And in the IPL it's different, depending on the team you're playing in.
Dada was always fond of you younger tribe.
Obviously he knew, he already marked the players he knew who would win the match.
If you look at the team later on...
From 2001- 2005, for those 4 - 5 years he had a big hand in setting the team.
If you look from 2005 -11, 12, 13 for the next 7 - 8 years how many players played.
The trend had started from there...
John Wright was the first foreign coach.
From then the trend changed.
I remember in 2001, we were playing against Australia...
I was the 12th man in the Calcutta test match where Dravid & Laxman made 280 & 180.
John Wright had set up our camp in Chennai.
I've never seen a camp like that in the last 8 - 12 years.
He made us run so much it was difficult to even sit on the pot in the morning.
And that was in the 2000's when we were supposedly young.
We were 20 - 21.
That's when we saw that you have to work that much.
Now they all are more professional with their...
6 packs, eating grilled chicken and grilled fish.
Now training has become a trend, which is good.
Do you see…
When you started playing, it's been 20 years...18 years.
It'll be 20 years soon, it's been 18 1/2 years.
- Which bowler has played for 20 years? - No bowler has played 19 years.
Not even 19 years.
Last night I was telling paaji (Kapil Dev) that...
I told him it's been 17-18 years since I've been playing.
He says, "It's been a long time for you as well".
I tell him, "It's been more than 18 years. It's been 18 1/2 years.
If I was a batsman, I would've played for another 5 - 6 years.
Even after 12 surgeries.
You tell me to only bat and field today then I can do it.
If I get out on the first ball then it's a different thing all together but...
...and stand in the slip. Then I can play a test match today.
In a test match I've hit the biggest six off Andrew Flintoff at Lord's (stadium).
And the ball went out of the park, to date only two people have managed that...
Tell me who?
- Ashish Nehra. - There's one more.
Viv Richards?
How did you know? Someone's told you for sure.
I also watch cricket, it's not like that.
Ajit Agarkar was about to make a 100.
When I went in Ajit was batting on 67...
...it's not as if he was thinking about the 100 at that time.
And anyway we were going to lose that Test match.
Once Ajit got his 100...
...I told him, "Now don't run this side. It's been way too long playing on defence.
Let me just hit a couple of big shots, my heart will be happy".
I swung my bat and his luck was so bad, it connected and the ball went out of the park.
- It fell in St. Johns woods. - We're losing the test match...
...those sitting in the Lord's balcony especially VVS Laxman...
...they're all laughing, cheering and clapping as if we won the test match.
Have you ever seen something like that? The ball was out.
Did you raise your bat or not?
No... I got a bit embarrassed. Though I wanted to do it.
And I hit one more six. It was a pull shot, off Shane Bond's bowling.
- Yeah and he used to bowl really fast. - This was in Hamilton.
By then I was already scared of the next ball. I said...
"Bondy, next ball just keep it straight, I'll leave the wicket wide open for you...
...but please do not hurt me".
There's one more story from the Lord's test match.
In that test match the umpire was David Shepherd.
- Do you remember David Shepherd? - Yes, very much. The hop.
When I was small there was a World Cup match or a test match I remember...
David Shepherd was umpiring and David Gower was resting his hand on his shoulder.
You know, you remember certain things in life.
So I told him, "I remember David Gower standing like this and today I'm playing and...
...you are standing here. He says, "Come on then". "What?", "Come on then, you can do it."
I put my hand on his shoulder. He says, "How is that feeling?"
That's very sweet.
Very sweet. He was a good guy.
Tell me about the 2011 World Cup, I've heard stories from everyone about the 2011 World Cup.
Honestly, my story about the 2011 World Cup started a month before...
...and I was struggling because of my back injury on & off.
Somedays I was feeling good and somedays I wasn't.
So my World Cup wasn't that great and after that I missed the first few games...
...then played 1- 2 games, didn't perform well in those matches...
Then in the semi finals when I was playing well… I broke my finger.
It was fractured and had surgery, there is still a screw plate in there.
I missed the final.
At one point I was actually thinking of leaving and getting a replacement.
But the World Cup was in India and at every airport we went to there was pressure...
...people saying that we have to win the World Cup. So that World Cup pressure was different.
But after 12 surgeries how do you get the motivation to get back again?
I don't know anything else otherwise.
If you're playing for India, then there's no bigger motivation.
If that's over, then there's always the IPL that is going on.
If that's also over then you can always spin the ball in the park.
See, I don't get these small muscle pulls.
If anything happens it's a grade 4 tear or a surgery.
Touch wood I don't get the flu, cough or fever.
If something had to happen then it would be chikungunya or malaria.
Nothing small ever happens.
I had chikungunya last year.
I've been in pain many times but the pain I felt then.
I was in the Ritz Carlton, Bangalore NCA.
I had done sprints all evening.
The body changed in 3 - 4 hours. I ordered a juice and burger at the Ritz.
The rest is history.
Within one hour the masseuse came... the AC was off... I was shivering.
I sent him back. Went down to the steam room, I was shivering in there as well.
Switched the AC off and I was sweating.
I mean I was shivering for one hour and sweating for another.
For the next 15 days...
I couldn't get up from my bed to go to the loo. I had to hold the wall and go.
For 6 weeks I didn't train, it happened on the 22nd of August...
...on the 5th of September I went for a pool session as I didn't have one for 15 days.
I did the session and couldn't move for five days after that.
After the 22nd of August, the first session I must have done...
...on the 22nd of October.
I did nothing for two months... nothing.
- The body becomes a shell, huh? - I couldn't do anything.
I missed a lot of cricket because of my injuries...
...so now I'm thinking I'll play as much cricket as I can. I'll try at least.
But T20 is good, only 4 overs.
I don't think my body can manage more than 4 overs…
...so as long as I bowl 4 overs, I'll keep bowling.
At the age of 38 - 40, even 4 overs is a lot for a fast bowler.
- You are anyway 40. - Not yet, I'm still 39.
- Almost there, you'll bowl till you're 40. - I'll play my last match when I'm 40.
Excellent, want to eat anything else?
No, I can't. I'm sweating all over.
Should we sit in an AC room. I don't get it, the weather was so pleasant yesterday.
I sometimes wish to remove all the hair from my head.
But that'll be too much. Then you'll only see my teeth.
Now at least there's some equilibrium.
No, I can't. I'm sweating all over.
Should we sit in an AC room. I don't get it, the weather was so pleasant yesterday.
I sometimes wish to remove all the hair from my head.
But that'll be too much. Then you'll only see my teeth.
Now at least there's some equilibrium.
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