Mohammad Azharuddin

At times, you are mentally but not physically prepared; at times, you are physically but not mentally prepared. I would be lying if I said it doesn't affect your performance. But the sooner you get over it, the better. So you discipline yourself. That is why fitness counts.

I had lost my grandfather just a month-and-a-half before I made my debut. I was suddenly scoring runs and getting into the fray. It was a very trying period for me. I was happy as well as sad.

When you bat, you need to have a lot of patience. I started training for it from the age of eight or nine. So, I knew what I needed when I stepped on the field to bat.

After the match-fixing allegations, the one thing I had was patience. It took a lot of time for the courts to come to a verdict regarding the case. Sometimes, there were adjournments, but during that time, I had patience. We fought very hard, and finally justice prevailed, and we got the right verdict.

The biggest thing I possess is infinite patience. Once you are patient, things fall in place.

Allah is with people who show patience. If you are down in the dumps, Allah will help you if you have belief. But this is a personal thing between you and him. You can't fool Allah.

My strength is my humility. When you are humble, people like you.