‘Whether I like it or not, Ziva gets a lot of attention’
During the decade he led Team India as its captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in two World Cups — T20 championship in 2007 and the cricket World Cup in 2011. Though he has given up captaincy in all formats of the game — Test, ODI and T20 — the fact remains that he is one of the most successful skippers India has seen. The 37-year-old cricketer was recently in Mumbai to launch a sports app, and during his interaction with the media, he spoke about the game, the importance of sports in his life, his daughter Ziva, and the rumours surrounding his retirement. Excerpts…
These days, star kids are as popular as their parents on social media. Your three-year-old daughter Ziva is no exception. Do you like the attention that she gets, or does it worry you as a parent?
Whether I like it or not, the fact is that Ziva gets a lot of attention. In fact, wherever I go, people actually ask about her; I am nowhere in the scene right now. Talking about my daughter, she is a livewire. She is always on the move and she is very careful about what she does — so, we are not worried that she will hurt herself.
Earlier this month, Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore had said that a games period would be made mandatory in schools, after reducing the academic syllabus by 50 per cent by next year. Your take?
Education is very important, but sports teaches you a lot about life — the will to win, the acceptance of loss and how to come back after a defeat. Schools are the best places to encourage our youngsters to play a lot of sports. When I was in class VI or VII, I had no clue whether I was going to be a cricketer, a footballer, an athlete or a badminton player. The point is, if I have not tried these sports at school, how will I get to know what I am good at? Sports build character, so it should be a big part of every student’s life — kids should be pushed to play sports even if they don’t want to. Having said that, while sports need to be incorporated into the syllabus, there can’t be a situation where your score chart depends only on sports.
Recently, there was a viral video of you taking the match ball from the umpires, after the 3rd ODI against England at Leeds. It had created some buzz around your imminent retirement from international cricket. Please comment…
That (taking the ball) was just to see why we were not getting enough reverse swing. Because we will be playing the World Cup in England next year, it is important to figure out how to get the reverse swing going.
The ICC (International Cricket Council) uses a ball only for 50 overs, so after the match, I requested the umpire to give it to me and I gave it to the bowling coach.
During the decade he led Team India as its captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in two World Cups — T20 championship in 2007 and the cricket World Cup in 2011. Though he has given up captaincy in all formats of the game — Test, ODI and T20 — the fact remains that he is one of the most successful skippers India has seen. The 37-year-old cricketer was recently in Mumbai to launch a sports app, and during his interaction with the media, he spoke about the game, the importance of sports in his life, his daughter Ziva, and the rumours surrounding his retirement. Excerpts…
These days, star kids are as popular as their parents on social media. Your three-year-old daughter Ziva is no exception. Do you like the attention that she gets, or does it worry you as a parent?
Whether I like it or not, the fact is that Ziva gets a lot of attention. In fact, wherever I go, people actually ask about her; I am nowhere in the scene right now. Talking about my daughter, she is a livewire. She is always on the move and she is very careful about what she does — so, we are not worried that she will hurt herself.
Earlier this month, Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore had said that a games period would be made mandatory in schools, after reducing the academic syllabus by 50 per cent by next year. Your take?
Education is very important, but sports teaches you a lot about life — the will to win, the acceptance of loss and how to come back after a defeat. Schools are the best places to encourage our youngsters to play a lot of sports. When I was in class VI or VII, I had no clue whether I was going to be a cricketer, a footballer, an athlete or a badminton player. The point is, if I have not tried these sports at school, how will I get to know what I am good at? Sports build character, so it should be a big part of every student’s life — kids should be pushed to play sports even if they don’t want to. Having said that, while sports need to be incorporated into the syllabus, there can’t be a situation where your score chart depends only on sports.
Recently, there was a viral video of you taking the match ball from the umpires, after the 3rd ODI against England at Leeds. It had created some buzz around your imminent retirement from international cricket. Please comment…
That (taking the ball) was just to see why we were not getting enough reverse swing. Because we will be playing the World Cup in England next year, it is important to figure out how to get the reverse swing going.
The ICC (International Cricket Council) uses a ball only for 50 overs, so after the match, I requested the umpire to give it to me and I gave it to the bowling coach.
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