There was a time when you always wanted to dominate.

I have never tried to dominate, I have always played my natural game.

Which was to dominate... I remember your first series, I think your debut series and Waqar Younis’ debut series, he hit you on the nose and you came back and hit him for four fours.

I hit a couple of boundaries after that.

One could see that defiance, I remember what Imran Khan said after that. He said, ‘Yeh ladka aisa waisa nahin hai, isko dekhna’. You hit Abdul Qadir for a couple of sixes in the one-day match after that (Peshawar).

Yeah, I scored 50 in 17 balls there. And I think we needed something like 43 or 42 runs in the last two overs.

I have memories of that series, I was visiting Pakistan in 1989... And I dropped by to be with the team one evening and I still have pictures of you with a false mooch (mustache) and false dadi (beard).

Moustache and lipstick to be precise...I picked it (false moustache) from someone. It was a Sunday Club party and it was wonderful where we shared a lot of jokes.

Is there something special about playing Pakistan? It somehow seems to bring out greater competitiveness in you. You once said before the World Cup that it is important to beat Pakistan.

I think it’s a different ballgame, to be honest. Because there are so many emotions attached to it. I remember in 2003 when we played the World Cup game… literally, from 2002 January, people had started talking about that game, ‘Remember 23rd of March you are playing Pakistan, Centurion, we have to beat them’. So you know such is the excitement and involvement when India plays Pakistan. So it slowly becomes a different game, it’s just like the Ashes, England |and Australia. You may have the best of games like Australia and South Africa, 1999 semi-finals, that was a superb game, but people talk more about Ashes because the rivalry has been there for a long time.

... contd.