It was a day when even the dictaphones gave up; Sunil Chhetri, India's inspirational football captain was in such a chatty mood. Visiting the TOI Mumbai office as Guest Sports Editor, Chhetri spoke on everything under the sun - the Asian Cup heartbreak, cordiality with Constantine and bonding over veganism with 'pal' Virat Kohli.

You always voiced the need for India to be a decent opponent at the continental stage before we target the World Cup. We came close to qualifying for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup 2019. How important is it for us to keep playing strong opponents in Asia before we think of anything else?

It's very important. To analyse yourself as a team, to know exactly where you stand is very, very important. We should not be really happy by winning just the SAFF Cup. SAFF Cup for us, without demeaning the other teams, should be an under-19 and under-23 event, where you give chances to players who you might not play. The senior team should target teams who are seventh to 15th in Asia. Then only we will know (our standard).

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Do you get asked too often when India will play at the World Cup?

People who are just fans and don't know much about Indian football will always keep asking when will we qualify for the World Cup. Those questions will keep coming. But for us who are there and know more, the right way is to test ourselves against the better teams in Asia.

Are making enough progress?

Definitely, we have. Is it substantial and huge? No, it's not. Let's not fool ourselves. We have made some progress, but it's not even enough to challenge the big teams in Asia.

You said India should play juniors at the SAFF Cup. So what events should the senior team play? Apart from the World Cup qualifiers, you play only the friendlies. How do you explain how and when the national team can play actively and competitively?

There are 12 to 14 international friendlies (every year). We need to play those against better opponents. When we play in the Inter-Continental Cup, we must get better teams. Now, when you ask for a friendly against the UAE, it will be easier. Before the Thailand game in the Asian Cup, we had asked for friendlies against Thailand, but they refused. Thailand denying a friendly against us makes sense because they reached as far as the final stage of World Cup qualifying. They would not want to play against lesser teams.

Are we ready to play stronger teams in Asia?

We played Thailand, Bahrain and the UAE (at the Asian Cup). Imagine in three months, we play against Lebanon, Syria, and then, we play someone like Australia, who we know play at the World Cup. Everyone is watching football today. There is scrutiny, there are questions, there is criticism, but at least everybody is watching. At least everybody will know how far we are. Unless we realistically figure in the first 12 of Asia and stay there, we will never knock the doors of a World Cup. Unless, you are having a tough fight against teams like Qatar, UAE, South Korea, there is no chance.

The fans applauded India's performance at the Asian Cup, even though we won only the first game against Thailand and failed to qualify. How different was this performance?

We could have done much better, but of course, things don't change drastically. Everyone was ready to come back and defend well and make it difficult for teams to score, and when we can, be brave. That was one of the difference. When we see a team defending, you think, this team is going to defend, they will defend, then they will attack and if they are lucky, it will be 0-0.

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But now, it's 0-0. It's 60 minutes, you got one ball and you got Udanta (Singh), who is as fast as anyone in Asia. Once he improves his crossing and finishing skills, he will be deadly. Ashique Kuruniyan , he is fast.

The UAE guys could not handle him. So if you can defend well and you have a No. 10, in this case it was me, and I can pinpoint a pass, it's difficult, because you are running with Udanta, you are running with Ashique, it's not going to be easy.

With us it was only about coming back, being brave and defending. We could not pass (against Bahrain). We could not have seven or eight touches pass and to do well in this kind of a tournament, it is mandatory.

Any team that does well is a team that can win the ball back and keep the ball. You cannot expect to give the ball back. That is what we did against Bahrain. We defended like maniacs, but we also gave the ball back to them.

It is impossible to defend for 90 minutes. So right now if you want to be a better team, you defend well, because you are India and not Japan and make sure when you get the ball you string some passes and then you have Udanta and Ashique and players who are fast. It is not easy.

For people like Sandesh (Jhingan), Anas (Edathodika), Subhashish (Bose) and Pritam (Kotal), playing against a Coro, Miku, Lanza, helps. We played Thailand, UAE and Bahrain. We didn't face Miku. We didn't face Coro, we didn't face Lanza. These guys are used to facing these three players and that is why they fared better. Week in, week out, you play against these players, who are class. We didn't find those players in those three teams. S

o playing against those players helped Sandesh and Subhashish to maintain the gap and it didn't look disjointed. The one thing we didn't have was, when we get the ball, pass. Calm down. We have to do better while defending, and the moment we get the ball, (takes a deep breath), pass.

We have to make the best use of players like Udanta and Ashique. These guys are proper fast. I thought I was fast. But they beat me easily. To use them, we need to keep the ball. Of course, it's a luxury which we cannot do for 90 minutes because we are playing against better opponents.

But whenever we can, we can be dangerous if we keep the ball. It happened against UAE. Whenever we got the ball, we were dangerous. If I scored the header and Ashique scored too, things would be different. I still think about the header. It's a routine header. Anywhere else, it's a goal. Two goals up against the UAE, you come back and it becomes more difficult for them. Few details and margins, probably we would have qualified.

You played under three foreign coaches with the national team, Bob Houghton, Wim Koevermans and Stephen Constantine. How would you analyse their shape formation?

I think if Wim could have come now, he would have done better. He came at a time when everyone in the league was lumping the ball and waiting for second balls. We had two foreign strikers in most teams and players just lumped the ball to them.

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If Wim came now where a lot of players in the ISL and I-League are keeping the ball, passing the ball, that's the kind of training Wim wanted. He tried it in training, but in the game it's not easy to change. So it didn't work.

With Bob Houghton, it was simple. The way the league played, he played the same way. And he knew exactly what he wanted. Bhaichung and Chhetri fight for the ball, make sure the space is narrow, take the ball, give to Steven or Renedy, cross, finish, come back. And everyone was strong, because that is what he wanted. Make sure, you work on set pieces and come back.

Now when you see a Delhi in the ISL, they want to keep the ball. Goa, they want to keep the ball too much. BFC want to keep the ball. All the boys know, they understand. It's not difficult to tell them to keep the ball. Of course, the way we keep it here, it's not going to work if we play against South Korea.

The philosophy was different with Constantine. Again, long ball. It's difficult. The boys understood, but it was too many long balls. Against Bahrain, we did not pass a single ball to our full back. It's suicide. You can do it, but not against better teams.

There was a time when there were only two defenders marking me and Ashique. If I have to fight against a Sandesh or a Anas on a long ball, he'll just be having a cigar and chilling. But if the ball is on my feet, then it's difficult. We struggled to make four passes.

It should have been my responsibility to shout and change things, but I couldn't. May be I was thinking, 60 minutes gone, 65 gone. I could have done things differently. Nobody talked. Nobody said, get it to me first. If we have to lose, let's lose keeping the ball. We worked hard, everybody slid and fell, but for 90 minutes, you can't do that. Things are going to happen. You cannot blame Pronay.

What was the half time talk during the Bahrain clash, knowing a draw was enough?

I didn't speak. I regret that. It was just 45 minutes. Let's get to 10 more minutes and 10 minutes more. The more it went on, the more we believed that we will qualify. But we also realized that a goal could be coming. The more you lump the ball, the ball will keep coming back.

Bahrain were not technically better than UAE. In the first two games, there was no pressure. In the third game, suddenly there was a feeling that we are going to qualify, who would have thought? That probably affected us and we kept thinking, 10 minutes, 10 minutes. Also the other result (between UAE and Thailand). Anything else and we would have qualified.

In the first two games, there were no permutations and combinations to think of and the boys just relaxed and played. But the moment the third game came along, we just….. I couldn't believe we didn't play the way we played in the first two games.

Why can't we get friendlies against teams like China, Jordan? Is it them saying no or the AIFF not doing enough?

Because, they don't say yes. How much they (AIFF) try, I don't know. But whenever they have tried, they don't say yes easily. When you see South Korea play Mexico, they want to judge themselves against powerhouses. Every team wants to do better than them. Now, with what we have done, things could get better.

You spoke earlier of how someone like Wim would do well now. Is that the sort of coach we need to look at to replace Stephen Constantine?

The thinktank should sit together and think, what do you want? Do you want to forget about everything and have a five-year plan where you seek the results after five years, then you bring a big name. And I don't mean a big name in terms of the name only, but his potential, his credentials, the way he works and the kind of game he plays; bring him, give him those five years - because it takes time - and then judge him after those 3-4-5 years.

If you feel no, 'we've got a small momentum here, let's build on it and make changes as rapidly as possible', then probably get somebody who knows Indian football, who knows the players and who probably has the same philosophy of how the league is playing.

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We cannot completely play like Barcelona, but somebody who is ready to pass the ball around, have a good system and who knows the players also. So what you want completely depends on these criterias.

If you decide 'we had a good jump, some decent results here and there, but now we want a five-year plan', then whoever you bring, you got to back him up. So first make sure you work very hard in choosing the right guy and then back him.

All depends on what you want. Do you want to relax for now and build it for five years, and take it further - like how Germany did, or do you want to build on this momentum? Either way, you need to bring somebody after a lot of research, get the right guy and back him.

What do you suggest we should do?

I don't know, man. I might be biased because five to six years might be a long time for me to still be in the national team. So if you ask me right now, I might be biased thinking 'get a good one right now who knows stuff and I can still be a part of it. But it's not about me. It's a Catch-22 situation because I really do want us to qualify for the next Asian Cup.

I don't want what happened in 2011 and then 2015 (where India missed out) to happen again. The bare minimum we need is to qualify for the Asian Cup. No matter who the coach is, we should play the Asian Cup regularly, because then you will see the jump. Then it will be normal to face UAE. Then 4-1 against Thailand won't leave us thinking 'Oh my God, it's a miracle!'

As a player you feel weird when you hear the whole country is going 'wow 4-1 Thailand', because we didn't do anything extraordinary, we just played good. It wasn't like 'Oh my God, it was the game of our lives!' But the first 30 minutes against UAE was that. I felt 'this is our game'. When we lost the UAE game, I couldn't believe it. The main culprit was me missing that easy header, but we had six chances of which three were open chances. And they just lumped the ball long and somehow it ended up in the goal. That felt like a good performance. Pressing high and being brave. Sandesh was brilliant in marshalling the defence.

Is it true two summers ago, you went to the AIFF and asked for the coach to be changed, now that things are over?

I didn't ask for the coach to be changed. The questions that were asked to me, and it was after a win - we had won the Inter-Continental Cup -I was called to talk about doubling the prize money.

So I told (AIFF president) Mr (Praful) Patel that the boys did really, really well, we should double the prize money. He does that every time, if we do something well.

So for that reason I went and met him. That was the first thing I asked him, to double the prize money, and he happily did that and then we talked about stuff here and there. But I've never done this before and I'm no one to do this.

How I'm feeling under a coach and how the team is playing is what I give my inputs on. I've done this. I didn't do it under Bob because I was just a rookie, but under Wim Koevermans whenever I was asked, even under Stephen Constantine, whenever I was asked, even at my club whenever I'm asked, I do give my inputs that this is what I feel is happening, and that's what I had told Mr Patel. That's it. But because it was a meeting of the president and the captain and it went out, that's why lot of people started talking.

Stephen Constantine knows even if there were a few things that I didn't agree to the way we played, I never shied away from giving my 100 per cent. I have scored more goals under him than any other national coach. We have won more games. I have given everything that I have got, because, to be honest, for the national team, it's more for the country than the coach.

Last night Chelsea lost 4-0, it looked like the players were not playing for the coach. It can happen at club level. For the country, no chance. Tomorrow, even if someone I hate becomes the national team coach, when I go to play for the country, I will give everything that I've got. It comes naturally because you are playing for the jersey. And he (Constantine) knows it.

So how would you describe your relationship with Constantine?

We weren't very friendly. We were cordial. Generally I would say everything was hunky dory and great, but I want to be honest. I went there, did my job and gave everything I've got. Even when the captaincy thing happened, he actually came and talked to me long back. He said, when I think I was 31, 'you might retire in one or two years, and I understand, so I want to bring up one more captain after you'. I swear I backed him. I said 'it's a great thing you want to do this' because yes, whenever I leave – in 10 years (smiles), there has to be somebody who is ready.

My only issue was, when I felt hurt. In friendlies, he used to rotate captaincy and in tournaments, I used to get it, and I was ok with it. People who know me know I'm really happy whether I get the captaincy or not. But when it happened where I was being rotated with a Pronay, a Sandesh, a Gurpreet, then I used to feel a little bit hurt. Since I was ok with giving it up, I felt 'if you want to make captains - there are three, keep giving it to them and make the next one'. But when you bring me into the mix, then it seems to me like I'm fighting with these three guys to get the captaincy, which I don't want to. It doesn't make sense.

Before you joined Bengaluru FC, you were always a forward but Ashley Westwood handed you a role on the left flank. How did you react to that change?

It was difficult at the start because I was already 28-29 then and I had done fairly well as a striker. Ashley was convinced that I was going to do well there. So before judging him, I had to at least give it a try. I scored in the second game and then didn't score for the next six. I was again having doubts. Thank god I gave it my best shot because I ended up scoring 14-15 goals that year and now I have a different dimension in my game. I understand the game better from here. I understand the nuances of coming back and defending for the team, and it's great. I'm really grateful to Ashley for the change, for seeing that in me and convincing me to give it my best shot.

How much has Bengaluru FC played a role in making you the player you are today? And what is it that made you join Bengaluru FC after winning the title with Churchill the previous season.

Going there was just a very lucky chat with me, my agent (Sonu) Lamba and my father. We had the offer from Churchill. We were going to play the AFC Cup. The family (Churchill) loved and adored me. I was almost going to sign. Why would you leave an I-League winning team? I met Mr Mandar Tamhane (BFC CTO). He said, 'Don't sign for Churchill, we've got something for you. Give me 10-15 days.'

I waited and they showed me the plan of BFC because there were no names. I was skeptical, but Mandar was convinced and told me it was important that I sign. So overnight I decided. Now when I look back, I'm really happy with the decision. Look at the number of trophies we won.

When you cross 30 years, motivation and wanting to do more is very important. That's what BFC does. Waking up at the right time, doing the right exercise, eating the right stuff is extremely important. When you're 20 you're going to do it anyway because you are hungry. You want the money, the name and the fame but now for me it's very important that I feel motivated. And that's what Bengaluru FC does to me.

You know, I'm faster now than when I joined BFC. My fat percentage is lesser, I'm more fit and it's lovely. It wouldn't have been possible without BFC.

Will you be around in 2023 when the Asian Cup is played?

It's a very tricky one. Personally I want to be. But then it also would mean that India didn't get a better No. 10. If Sunil Chhetri is the best No. 10 when he's 38, then something's wrong. As a fan, I want there should be 10 more players and Sunil Chhetri should think, 'No man, no chance. Hang your boots, sit back, and enjoy'. That's the fan in me speaking.

But personally, as long as I can contribute to the team, I'll play. Doesn't matter what age. I love playing for the country. There's no other feeling that can match it. It's unparalleled. The day I see that I'm not needed, I'll hang up my boots. That's why I'm waiting for the coach to be announced. I want to see what his plans are. I'll have a talk with him, and then I'll take a decision. But till I can contribute to team, I will.

Do you think it is happening – players coming in to replace you? When you were leaving for the Asian Cup, the coach mentioned that Indian players were not getting too much playing time, they were being played out of position in the leagues. With this uncertainty over two leagues, how smooth will the supply line be according to you?

Having I-League and ISL played differently in a short period has actually helped, I feel. For example, a Joby Justin wouldn't be seen. It would have been the same players playing both the leagues. In Bagan, Jeje would be playing and Joby would be on the bench. So you get the point?

Playing out of position is a very tricky one because cutting the foreigners slot to four will help. But then, would you get the same quality?

No matter how well you train, if you are not playing, it will come to nothing. That's why I left Kansas City Wizards. That's why I left Sporting Lisbon. I was training with the best of players, but I was not playing games. Training is very different from match situations.

Do you have the regret that you couldn't succeed in Kansas and Sporting?

I never feel that I couldn't succeed. I just feel that I didn't have enough time.

Maybe you should've gone earlier?

With Sporting, maybe. If I had gone when I was 17, 18, I would have never come back. The boys that I was training with, they were at a different level. The first week when I went, I was training with the A team.

The coach told me to get lost because I just couldn't understand what was happening. I thought I had a good touch and a good mind but it was too fast so they sent me to the B team. Bad luck. There was Eric Dier, Pedro Marques etc.

It took me one month to just understand the pace. That's the same level which happens at BFC now after so many years. After one month when I understood, I enjoyed it. What happens in the B team was that every week, those who weren't doing well in the A team, are sent to the B team. So every time I had an opportunity to start, some A team player would come. It was frustrating.

I only played six games for Sporting and never more than 45 minutes. The day I was used just to kill time, I decided that I had to go back. I had a chat with the owners that I really had to go. I was 26 years and the other lads were 18-19. It was a tough choice. If I was 18, I would've stayed there.

You think there's a need to coach the coaches first so instead of going abroad, we can do everything here?

That a good idea. See, eventually you want a scenario where you improve as a player and for that, you don't need to go abroad. For that, you have to get good coaching. See, homegrown and outside will always be a matter of money.

If you have something homegrown, a physio, a doctor, a coach, it'll always be cheaper. If you have coaches who take the mantle of coaching an ISL team, why would you want to go out? If you send our coaches out to train and interact with other coaches, it'll only be good. And one day probably we won't have this rule in ISL where you have to be a UEFA coach.

We can have an Indian coach who had done well outside and coming back to the country to play. Everyone has to get better. Referees, physios, everyone.

With cricket heading towards the north-east, now with them part of the domestic circuit, do you see football being challenged there?

I have never feared cricket ever, because you compare things when there is equality, both fighting for the same thing. There is no fight here. So all football fans, rather than the negativity, should focus on how football is growing.

I am happy with that. Of course the pace can be much faster. We are improving as a football nation. But there is no point in trying to pull somebody down and you trying to get up. All the things that are happening in cricket, they must have done things right.

So if cricket does well, it is a great thing for me. We are such a big country, we can avoid this comparison. We have to aspire to be like America or China which cater to different sports and we can easily do it.

This year North East states started playing Ranji Trophy. Do you see more people from that region playing cricket?

That will be sad because a majority of our footballers are from the North East. You cannot visualise Eugeneson Lyngdoh holding a cricket bat. I personally believe football is growing.

Would cricket's presence in North East hinder football's progress? Maybe. Football is the best sport in the world. You can easily watch a football match. I can enjoy watching an under-14 girls match for 90 minutes.

Can you watch eight-hours of a cricket match? How we bring football to the mainstream should be our criteria. Cricket itself is doing well and the captain is a very good friend of mine. It is very good for us when we see our national colour being No 1 in the world.

I genuinely don't feel any ill for them (cricketers). I do watch cricket sometimes if time is manageable. I have watched a few IPL games. I watch his (Kohli) batting and I come back once he's dismissed. That's also because traffic will be difficult if I left after the game. I am a fan of the national team but to watch the whole game is difficult.

Is Virat in regular touch with you because he is also a football fan?

Yes. Most of our chats are about football, diet -- I don't know whether he has announced, but he is vegan now. I am also vegan now. It is great, it is a good feeling. I didn't start because of love for animals. Because after eating 2000 lambs I can't say that. (But at my age) It helps in recovery.

Did Virat convince you about being vegan?

I did chat with him about that. He turned one almost six months back. I used to make fun of him. Once when we did things for Star Sports, he ordered for some idli and I asked him what was wrong with him.

His wife is also a vegetarian. But he sustained and he is in amazing form. He is one sportsman who is unbelievable. It is not easy to do what he is doing. The batch sitting here (pointing to the TOI Mumbai Sports desk) would all be Tendulkar fans, but what Virat is doing is unbelievable.

He is also different from others in person. What he eats, how he trains, he is different from others. He actually trains like a footballer, he talks about body fat, he talks about sprints. I think I heard some controversy about sacking some players because of beep tests, and that time I was talking with him and he was asking me about my scores, and how he wants to improve.

He actually puts a lot of energy and time on being a better player and it is great because it is something which I learnt from. I met Mary-didi (Mary Kom) and she started talking about stuff that she should not eat and how she is managing time. These sportspersons are examples -- after three babies and she still wanting to do better, speaking to them you gets you motivated.

Our cricket World Cup victory in 1983 changed the position of the game in this country. Do you think Indian football needs a similar change?

It will change everything. But the pulse of the nation will be on the development. They will say wow something good is happening. We had won just one game and we did everything in our capacity to try and win the game against UAE.

But the nation was in anticipation, of something good happening in football. If we had qualified, we would have got China. And we had drawn against China in the friendly.

Who knows want could have happened? There were boys crying in the dressing room after our defeat to Bahrain. After the game Stephen announced that he is leaving and we could not even give him a proper send off. It was such a bad feeling.

After the Thailand game, we didn't think we were going out of the tournament. So for any kid to have hope to play football, we need to play the Asian Cup every time. I am sure the 1983 victory did that for cricket, because suddenly we were world champs, and we wanted to behave like world champions. Now it is normal for Indian cricket, but then it was a big thing.

Would you say your generation took football to another level?

I can't say my generation. I am very old. Gurpreet is almost a decade younger to me and so are some others. They will get a good feeling from the under-16 boys. Our under-16 boys are doing very well. It gives me immense hope. I hope if every batch that is coming after the U-16 is good or better, then we are moving in the right direction. You should see the under-16 players; they pass around, they press. (Coach) Bibiano Fernandes has done great job with them. They have done well against Japan and Iraq. Have you heard of India dominating those nations in football? They did that to win the game.

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I just hope that the transition from under-16 to senior is smooth. I hope we don't lose players, we don't have a case of Allwyn George. He played against Palestine, had a step-over, dribbled past two players and shot and I thought we have a good player. But that was six years ago.

Would you say it's a cultural thing, perhaps the north east players are hungrier than those from Goa?

I cannot categorise because I know one Goan player who really works is Rowlin Borges and he has revamped himself. The era of merely having talent is gone and I learnt this the hard way under Bob (Houghton). I was always the one who was gifted and I was always happy and he called me and said to me 'you'll be finished because they will call you and say, 'wow, what a great player because you scored one great goal in eight games' but they will always worship Bhaichung Bhutia because eight games, six goals. It doesn't matter which part of the body you score from.' Bob told me that you have to change games. You have to be a better player everyday then only you will be able to sustain. This lesson I learnt at a very early stage. It is not about how fancy or talented you are because a lesser talented player like Thoi Singh will beat you with his work ethic. But what a less talented player will bring is an unmatched dedication. That's why Thoi has had a better career than Allwyn George.

I'm not a great fan, but Conor McGregor's quote that 'hard work and dedication will beat talent' is true and I believe it. If you have talent and are not ready to work hard, you will be nowhere. I don't see a lot of top countries do this mistake.

Do you think the ecosystem is better for a talented player now?

It is better now. But it has to be much, much better. A rosy scenario would be when every kid who is good at football should be identified at the right age and be given the bare minimum. Not five-star, not like something in the UAE, but bare minimum surroundings where they are surrounded by a good coach, good education and good nutrition for him or her to improve. If every kid gets the support that someone like me got, we can achieve wonders, because I don't believe in the idea that we don't have talent.

With ISL coming in, the life of footballers has improved. Do you counsel young players about how to go about handling their finances?

I do, to the point that they don't think I am lecturing them. I do pick players who are close to me and they know that I am thinking about their future and in that context I get others also. If they are intrigued and interested, they come to me and I help them. Planning for the future is very, very important. It's a very volatile career that we have. Things change very quickly and you have to be very, very lucky to have a long career like I have had. It's very important that whenever you get the money you have the right plan in place to put it to good use and secure your future. I will give you a very small example. If you are given Rs 10, only Rs 6.5-7 belongs to you. The rest is the tax that you pay to the government. This is something I find very difficult to explain to players. We try to get the players hooked to a CA or financial advisors to help them manage their money. There are so many boys who got Rs 38 lakh, Rs 48 lakh tax notices after four years. They were taken aback. So to pay Rs 7 lakh taxes every year would have been easy, but shelling out Rs 48 lakh at one go is very difficult. I don't want players to find themselves in this situation.

After 10 years, when you stop playing…will you become a football coach, or a life coach?

Good question! I hope I'm in peace and away from football. Until then, I want to give everything. I cannot be waking up 7.30 in the morning and dedicating all my life (to football). My family will leave me. Of course, they want to see me playing for as long as possible...they are waiting that I can give them some normalcy. And it's not fair on them. You know all this broccoli stuff…my wife, mom and dad…right now they live like this. Just so that I don't get tempted, my wife eats exactly the same thing. Of course, she feels great because she loses three kgs in about two months, and gets in good shape, but she eats exactly what I eat. We've got a nice cook now. I had to do a lot of research on the cook also. And I tell all the boys, kids that I meet, that food is the main thing. Somebody says a lot of times, what you eat is what you become. It's a fact. It's not something that people are just saying it. It's a fact. All the top players eat right.

What's your captaincy philosophy?

As a captain, you've to understand when to speak, but more importantly, when not to speak. So that when you speak, there's an impact. So, as a player, having trained under so many captains, I've understood that the more important fact to be a captain is 1) Lead by example. People watch you. And they learn more. Preaching is secondary. And No 2) more importantly, you should know when not to speak, then when to speak. Because when to speak is always easy. When not to butt in, when not to speak is very important.