All in the family

You grew up in Hyderabad, which has produced some famous cricketers. Are there any cricketers from the city you admired?
I grew up in a cricketing household. My dad's first cousin played first-class cricket and so I was quite inspired by that. We have had cricketers like VVS Laxman and Mohammad Azharuddin coming from Hyderabad and they have been great role models. Azhar bhai is a family friend of ours, so we knew him quite well.

Do any of the new cricket strokes remind you of tennis shots?
I always, of course, understood that in cricket you are supposed to play with a straight bat, but nowadays we see that Dhoni's helicopter shot is quite the rage. That's almost like a tennis shot. Even the horizontal shot that's played straight, over the umpire's head, resembles a tennis backhand.

When did you first watch Shoaib Malik play live at a ground?
It was an India-Pakistan match in Mohali, 2007, though I didn't know him that well. In fact, he was the captain then. It was an amazing match. India lost and Sachin was out on 99.

Wimbledon or Lord's for a day out?
I am a little biased and so I'm going to say Wimbledon, though I do love cricket. Even when I wasn't married to a cricketer, I still used to go to cricket matches. I think it's a great game and it's entertaining.

What's your favourite cricketing memory?
Yuvraj Singh hitting six sixes. He is a dear friend and it was amazing watching him do that. I was playing a tournament elsewhere at the time and I remember waking up in the middle of the night to watch the game on TV. I can't remember where I was.

As told to Kanishkaa Balachandran

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