Small Talk: S Badrinath, Jacques Kallis and Shane Warne

What he said:

“He told me that you are at the big stage, people are going to write good things and bad things about you. But at the end of the day, you want that. The trees with the most fruits get stones thrown at them. I thought that was great advice.”

S Badrinath recollecting Sachin Tendulkar’s advice to him prior to his Test debut.

What he really meant:

“You don’t get criticised if you do nothing.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Do nothing.”

What he said:

“It felt a little odd playing in the stadium without the crowd behind me but, then again, my home stadium is now Eden Gardens so it’s not as if I have moved down market.”

Jacques Kallis on the strangeness of playing an away game for KKR at Chinaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, his former team’s home ground.

What he really meant:

“It’s not so bad, I’ve traded up. Eden Gardens for Bangalore.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Whom am I kidding? It’s me that’s been traded.”

What he said:

“Using the D/L method to decide the result of a game is like playing golf with a yellow ball. It’s not the real thing and it feels cheap, but you do it if you have to. It’s better than not playing golf at all — but only just!”

Jacques Kallis expressing  his views on the Ducksworth-Lewis method used for T20 cricket.

What he really meant:

“Playing golf with a yellow ball is OK but only if all you want to do is play the game, somehow.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Cricket should be played with a golf ball.”

What he said:

“It is like the past, you can’t change what happened in the past. If I thought about what happened in my past I could be in a straightjacket and padded cell somewhere.”

Shane Warne on his attitude coaching the Rajasthan Royals , focusing on what he has rather than what he hasn’t.

What he really meant:

“You can only do things with what you have, not with stuff you don’t. You don’t have that stuff anyway, why worry about it? You could go nuts.”

“The past is writ in stone; today’s the clay for tomorrow’s masterpiece.”

“Simply put, do make do!”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I deserve to be in a straightjacket and padded cell.”

“It’s just not spinning balls I’m good at, yarns too! Yeah, I’m no Mahatma, though!”

What he said:

“I am an easy man to please and one of the greatest pleasures is taking money off Mark Boucher on the golf course.”

Jacques Kallis finds SA and Kolkatta Knightriders team-mate easy meat on the links.

What he really meant:

“Pocket money’s always welcome.”

What he definitely didn’t:

"I’d continue playing Mark is if I kept losing."

Quote of the day:
He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met. - Abraham Lincoln