Quotes from Garfield Sobers

I love India. I love to visit the country.

When I look at someone like Andrew Symonds, I see a player who has done phenomenally well with the bat, as his record shows. He certainly has the ability to be a very good all-rounder, but I think to be a great one, you need to be able to turn a game with the bat or the ball.

The great all-rounders were not considered part-timers in one particular department. They could turn games at any stage and on any surface.

I learned to bat and bowl on different pitches and knew when to go hard and when to back off. It was just something I learned.

West Indian cricket means so much to people who live here. And when we're not doing well, we all feel it.

I enjoyed playing any type of cricket. Didn't matter what type it was because I did not want to change my game. My game was built on one type of cricket: if there was a ball to hit, you hit it, whether it was Test matches, whatever it was.

If you take five wickets, someone has to take the catches. If you score a hundred, someone has to be there with you. You haven't done it individually. Some contributions may be small, but they are still tangible. You have to look at it from a team point of view. When you start looking at it as an individual, then you have no team.

I don't think cricket is a game that people who have never played or been involved in understand the excitement. It's a game that is full of excitement, because cricket lovers follow the game and understand the basic principles and rules. They become connoisseurs of the game.

In all of my life, when I was playing sports, I always put 100 percent. I have always given the best.

Don't worry too much on pathways programs: good players find a way to get through to play for their country.

In the 1950s, when we went to Lord's, you had to sit down, and it was very prim and proper. It was only in the 1960s when we started to do well that West Indians started voicing their opinions.

In cricket, there is a lot of psychology in the game, especially if you are watching people who are not top-class.

An all-rounder is someone who can make it to the team purely on the basis of his batting or bowling. Not both.

One of the things about the six sixes, which really comes over me every time somebody asks a question or says to me, 'I've just seen them,' or people always ask me about it... It makes me feel that's the only thing I've ever done in the history of cricket.

People call me a genius. I don't know much about geniuses. But I do believe that what I achieved was not just because of the ability that I was born with but also because I worked hard.

In the early days, when I first got into the WI team, when the Ws were playing, I would sit and watch. When you could learn from watching players like that, it was a great joy to watch them play.

I have so many fond memories of the Tied Test, and I can't wait to come back to Brisbane. One thing that stands out is that both teams stayed at the same hotel. We got to know each other so well. Some of my best cricketing friends were in that Australian team.

T20 is good entertainment. It is a game you need. People go to watch it. You have to be careful how far you let it go.

There are a plenty of shots that I have been amazed by, but a lot of these shots are played because you have worn an iron mask. Take away the protection, and let me see if they play them. Don't forget that the past players did not have any protection.

When I played cricket for the West Indies, I never worried. I never really watched anyone else. I had a job to do, and I tried to do it to the best of my ability.

Indians are great lovers of cricket, they have always been that as far as I can remember - great followers of the game and have knowledge about the game.

If I am talking to a youngster, I coach him what I feel is best for him to bowl, how to hold the ball, how to bowl certain things, and how to bowl to certain batsmen, how to position himself. I never talk to them about the rules.

If you are going to raise youngsters for Test cricket that don't have the experience, you can't stick them into T20. You've got to teach them first how to play Test cricket, and when they're good enough for Test cricket and if they want to play both formats, then they can.

A coach should be a person who is able to help a player mentally.