You have had some time to introspect on what went wrong for you to be out of the Indian side. What were the lessons learnt?

•You need to be strong mentally. You need to be pushing yourself; and you need to raise the bar consistently. That’s what has happened in Indian cricket at the moment — everybody has raised the bar so you need to raise your own and keep getting better.

Were you disappointed that your Test and one-day performance got overlapped and you lost your place?

•That was bound to happen. There’s so much of cricket happening that you can’t completely disassociate Test and one-day cricket. When you do well in Test cricket, you get picked for the one-day side and likewise when you don’t do well, there is a chance that you will be dropped. It’s a part of Indian cricket and you’ve got to get used to it.

Your adaptability was your strength but has it now become your weakness, given that you’re not being considered a specialist for any job?

•I really don’t, but it’s quite interesting. Everyone has an USP and I know that I have always got my runs quickly and paced my innings so what’s important for me is to find out what I am good at. I try and adapt because there are only few options for you in Indian cricket. Little avenues open for a cricketer — if I am asked whether I want to do a job, I’m happy to do it. If I can do that for a good period of time, it will be great. I’ve been doing it for short periods and I’ve fizzled out.

... contd.