Quotes from Shahid Afridi

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.

I think, in international cricket, your management is about motivating players.

As long as you are winning, everything is fine, and you lose a game, and all hell breaks loose. That is grossly unfair. We should not overlook someone's past achievements just because he is going through a bad patch.

It is unfortunate whenever someone tries to bring politics into sport.

If the captain stands still and looks clueless, then it spreads to the whole team.

The Indian media has a very negative approach and very negative thoughts.

Yuvraj is a better batsman than me, I have no doubt.

I have nothing personal against Gambhir. In fact, I have some good friends in the Indian team, and I get along with them well off the field. Even if I meet Gambhir somewhere, I will greet him normally, as I have nothing in my heart against him.

I don't think I appear very cool to people who observe me on the ground.

If everything works out for me & if it's my special day I'll try to break AB de Villiers record for the fastest hundred.

My game is such that I either succeed or fail. But I always hope to do something which is useful to the team at the start of the innings.

Every child is a gift of Allah, and every child in Pakistan, to me, is like my own child, so I will do my best to take the message to every doorstep in Pakistan. Reaching every child, every time with the polio vaccine is not only necessary, but it is our duty. This disease can't deter us; we will defeat it.

Fast bowling is not an easy job. Especially if you are also a batsman as well as being a fast bowler, a fast bowler has to work harder than any other cricketer on his fitness.

What we need to do is strike the right balance in our teams for all three formats of the sport.

I have seen that Tendulkar was not at all comfortable against Shoaib in Kolkata Test in 1999. It was Shoaib's first tour of India, and he bowled out Sachin without giving him a chance to open his account.

I have always got a lot of love and affection from Indian fans.