As my parents are from India, I am told a lot of positive things about the country, the culture and traditions of Muslims in India. I don’t remember anything nasty told to me by my parents.

Tests with India always produce some great finishes.

I think most people thought that because I am quite reserved and private, I wouldn’t make a good captain.

The thing that forced me to think about my retirement was that I had played my cricket with honour and distinction, and I did not want to put myself in a position where I was considered a liability or unwanted by the selectors.

As more we play cricket, the more players will learn from it.

Throughout my career, we beat India in many matches, but for some reason, we never managed to get the better of them in World Cup matches, and it remains a disappointment for me.

Imran never lost faith in us as players, individually and as a team, and that gave us the confidence to win. He was a leader par excellence, and Pakistan have seen none like him.

I think fitness and performance levels are the right indicators to determine if it’s the time to leave the scene.

Besides being a sportsman, I am also a human being.

We have to keep our feet on ground, stay humble, and collect all praise, well-wishes, and prayers because these will help us in future.

T20 is an unpredictable format, so you cannot rule out any team’s chances.

It is a do-or-die battle every time we play India.

It is not my domain to speak on pitches, but they play an important role in producing quality players in every format.

When the key players in your team perform well, the team does well, too.

It’s always special playing in Australia and New Zealand.

Sometimes we need to make changes in the XI as per the conditions, and as per the player‘s form.

If someone drops a catch, and I get angry, will that catch come back to us? It won‘t. Therefore, it is better to be cool, because that helps in better performance.

I wanted to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. But I could not.

All successful captains in the world have had long-term roles to make a difference.

I remember, before the 2003 World Cup, I worked extremely hard on my fitness. A great deal of training and dietary discipline. I believe I lost 19 kg. And 19 is the number of runs I scored in the entire tournament.

Being chief selector has been the most challenging role of my cricket career, as I was heavily criticised for my decisions, and I couldn’t respond much.

I won’t say I have won many matches, but I used to take care to just do my role.

Trust yourself in tight situations, but you need to have a plan. You might fail once, twice, but you will get better at it.

Every team goes through a lean patch.

When you have confidence, the atmosphere in the dressing room also improves.

I want to develop an atmosphere where the selectors, captain, and coach are on the same page because, unless this happens, there will be no turnaround in our cricket.

The victory in the 1992 World Cup changed Pakistan cricket. A number of cricketers from that side turned out to be role models and inspiration for the younger generation.

If someone says to me, ‘You are a cheat, and Pakistan is doing wrong things,’ my first priority is to my country.

It is when your team is losing that the captain has to keep the players together. He has to fight for them.

Critics tend to praise as well as crucify you.

As chief selector, I did my best to pick new talent and give them proper opportunities, as they are the future of Pakistan cricket.

Once you start feeling the pressure, you start to struggle. That is the beauty of Indo-Pak cricket contests.

If you don’t have bounce on the pitch, even a spinner cannot come handy.

It’s up to the individual to decide when he wants to quit.

It is never easy for a professional cricketer, who has represented his country for 17 years, to forget the past and adopt a new lifestyle.

It is not easy when people laugh at you.

Once you reach the knockout stage of a World Cup, the team that holds its nerves wins.

In Pakistan cricket, the real test comes when the team is not doing well. When it is winning, everything is fine.

I’m ready to accept the pressures of captaincy.

I think there is no better way for our players to improve and learn to perform under pressure than playing regularly with India.

Against any team, confidence is crucial.

I am happy and satisfied at the end of my career, but not much. Yes, I would have loved to leave the stage in a better way.

When I look back and think about it, I feel my career was fairly good but, certainly, not tremendous.

I have one regret that whenever I look at the list of world’s leading scorers, I don’t see any Pakistani who has scored 10,000 Test runs; even I couldn’t do it ,nor Muhammad Yousuf.

My career has been as clear as a crystal.

I can’t leave cricket. It is my passion.

World Cup 2003 was the worst phase in my career, but that is now behind me, and I am doing all-out efforts to get my place in the team back and further my career.

I am a great admirer of Yuvraj and Kaif. They have generally been able to pick up the scoring when they come to bat at numbers six and seven. They also are livewires in the field.

Whoever you name as captain, it’s a hard choice.

How well a team executes its plans is important, but I think keeping nerves under pressure is far more important in the knockout stage.

What I intend to do is to launch a batting academy. I have been a batsman throughout my life, and I can’t open a bowling academy after all!

Adjusting to life without cricket hasn’t been very tough.

In the past, when we toured countries like Australia or South Africa, we struggled, but we also got to learn a lot, and we learnt to cope with pressure.

If people remember me as one who contributed to Pakistan’s cricket, I will feel good. If people say good things, it makes me feel happy.

Dhoni is a big player. He’s achieved a lot as a player and as a captain.

In 2004, we were in a rebuilding phase after the disastrous 2003 World Cup campaign, and the batsmen, in particular, did not know where they would bat or what was their role. For example, in the one-dayers, we were playing Shahid Afridi on top of the order, but we didn’t consider him for the Tests.

Handling pressure is the key to doing well in Indo-Pak matches.

Cricket is a team game. No individual can just say he can win it on his own.

Criticism is natural; it’s just that you have to deal with it positively and use it to improve.

It’s important what you can do for your team. Even if you score 30-40, if it contributes to team’s victory, then it is always memorable.

We were able to dominate the world in the ’90s because the World Cup victory completely transformed us and changed our mindset.

My desire, like everyone else, is to see the team win.

In the one-dayers, it boils down to who performs better on the day of the match.

The PCB needs to be clear in its stance on players who have been involved in corruption and tarnishing the image of the country. Because playing for the national team is the highest honor for any athlete.

It’s not as if I never used to get under pressure. That is nonsense. It’s just that my looks gave an appearance, and people didn’t think I was tense.

I have told the PCB that I want total independence to work with a free mind and pick the best players, and they have assured me it will be done.

One day, those who play have to leave the stage.

The pressure of an India-Pakistan game is immense.

Even after defeating India, I still have the highest respect for them as opponents.

A tour to India is different from other tours. The expectations to win are very high from our own people, and defeats and poor performances are not forgotten easily.