Life after retirement is hectic, but I'm enjoying it. I'm getting to know a different side of life. For 24 years I was focusing on cricket and nothing else. I feel the first innings of my life was playing cricket and chasing my own dream - and the dream was to win the World Cup. The second innings of my life, the post cricketing years, is to try and give back something to the people who have wished well for me.

To win the World Cup was my dream. I was patient. I didn't want to wait for 22 years to lift the trophy. We came close a couple of times. Finally, 2011 was a golden moment for me in my career. That is the best moment I experienced in my career. To be able to stand there in the middle of the ground with the entire nation celebrating and dancing, I can barely describe how excited I was. To put it into words is just not possible.

Playing cricket was never a burden, it was a joy to be out there in the middle. People expected a lot from me and I enjoyed that because people felt that I could deliver. That inspired me to go out and push myself harder. If I did something well I wanted to better that. I was trying to find a reason to push myself hard and people helped me to push harder. Once I got out in the middle I forgot [the pressure]. It was just the bat and ball.

Test cricket is like a main course, and always will be - the other versions are like starters and desserts. Out of 10 cricketers, if you asked, I wouldn't be surprised if eight say that Test cricket is the top, then comes the rest.

First cricket has to be in your heart, then it gets to your brain. The key is to be madly in love with cricket, which he is.

Hundreds don't come easy - you've got to go out and get it. It was a difficult phase in my career [getting from 99 to 100, which took from March 2011 to March 2012] because everyone had started talking about it. People had become obsessed with 100 hundreds. The focus was only on hundreds and that started affecting me.

When I was first approached for the movie I told them once a sportsperson, always a sportsperson. I cannot act and it took a lot of convincing to get me on board. But I have always loved challenges, and I enjoyed this new experience of being in front of the camera too.

Everything about my life is real and cannot be a made-up story. So, the movie captured more of what was going on in my mind, during the highs and lows, that nobody knew about that but me. I am a private person, so it surely took some convincing before I agreed..

I have been able to relive all those beautiful moments of my life once again during the making of this film. Ravi, James and the entire team were very passionate about this project and it was an exciting and a fruitful experience working with them. James has weaved his magic into ‘Sachin - A Billion Dreams’.

Those moments are special moments which will stay with me for the rest of my life. 2011 World Cup! It doesn't get anything bigger than that in cricket. The whole country was celebrating. Needless to say that the dressing room was flowing with champagne and photographs being taken with each other and every individual, that beautiful trophy and that's when I called Anjali. Anjali saw the match on television because she is superstitious and then rushed to the stadium only to realize that guys were jumping on cars on the road and on rooftops, dancing and celebrating our victory. The moment they recognized her, they said not this car, let's jump onto another one. Fantastic experience and after that with all those happenings in the dressing room, we went back to the hotel.

Many people approached me for acting, but not for a film on my life. This is the first time somebody came to me to make a film on my life. Even then I said don’t force me for acting. I said to Ravi (the producer) ‘once a sportsman, always a sportsman’. Acting wagairah se chodd do mujhe (laughs). He assured me it’s not about acting, but about what’s been happening in 24 years of my life.

Well, I think when John Wright was there with the team, the team, I felt, was in a terrific space and we had done well. Greg took over and the initial bit was all right. I was injured in the first couple of tours and that's when the problem happened with very senior players in the team. And a major problem then was with Sourav [Ganguly], who was actually instrumental in bringing Greg Chappell as a coach for the Indian Team. He targeted senior players because somehow he was of this opinion that senior player is no good, whereas senior players had done brilliantly and at 30-31 years old, I mean they were not too old to continue in the team, just that the thought process was not something that we wanted and there were differences in opinions. There was not enough transparency and I have no doubt that out of 15 odd members, maybe two or two and a half players might be with him and then the rest 13 players would agree with what I am saying. Cricket was least enjoyable, I've never had that experience in my life. Even if I was playing under my building, it was enjoyable and a lot of fun.

I thought the first phase was a difficult one and there were differences in our opinion and the selectors were thinking something different and I was thinking something different. I wasn't given the team I wanted; there were a few individuals that I wanted in the team, which did not happen. It was a big setback and a big disappointment because my only goal was to win matches for India; I did not want anything else. I felt we were not on the same wavelength. We were thinking differently and if our captain has to go out in the middle and take his team and want them to play the way I want to play cricket, then I get to have players which I want, which did not happen. That was the first thing in my captaincy. The second one was also a challenging one. We went to some tough places. We went to Australia, we went to South Africa as well and things were not happening according to the way I wanted. All in all, I felt that we were not putting enough runs on the board. I don't think we scored 300 even once in three Test matches in Australia. Six innings if you don't score 300 even once, so you are not likely to win. In fact, even ending up in a draw would be a great result because Australia being the top side in the world, we would have been happy with that, but that did not happen, more so because there were not enough runs on the board.

It was a very different feeling. When you’re playing, you try to focus on different aspects of the game… You look to correct your mistakes. You’re also thinking forward, how I am going to play. I looked back to my dismissals to understand how could I get better. Otherwise, you don’t go back to assess your life. We had to cover not just 24 years of my playing career, but from the time when I was only 5. It starts from my old house. My brother stays there. We shot there. We didn’t recreate any set. It’s actually my house that you’ll see in the film. The actual playground where I grew up. The first ball I played. There’s also Shivaji Park Kamath Memorial pitch. I played on that very pitch.

A few days before a series or when I returned from a tour, it took me some days to unwind, relax and be normal, because I was so much into the game. Anjali has spoken about all these things.

It has been great. It has been a collective performance from the team. And that is the reason why this victory is great, because different players have made contributions to the win. Someone scored a quick 10 runs, someone got a run-out and the team clicked as a whole unit.

James has done a number of sports-based films. With all due respect, Indian directors who grew up in India were always surrounded by Sachin’s aura even if you are not a big fan of cricket. I thought an objective take would come for somebody who hasn’t seen that kind of madness.

This is a good bowling side with a good blend of youth and experience. Shoaib Akhtar has been playing for 5, 6 years and is an experienced bowler. Along with Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed they form a formidable team. Saqlain Mushtaq has done well against us. But the attack in 1989 had Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. That attack was more experienced. Imran Khan did not become Imran Khan overnight. He worked hard to become a legend. Wasim and Waqar were amazing bowlers. I would put them right up there with the best in the world.

It has been quite good. I cannot complain about anything. Occasionally, it has been hectic. There are various initiatives I have been involved in. I am the UNICEF ambassador for hand wash and it is a critical issue here because people take their health for granted. It is about a simple issue of washing your hands before eating meals, after visiting washrooms. Even when a mother feeds her baby, we need to spread the message to wash hands so we stop diarrheal diseases. Every year one lakh lives are lost and we need to bring the number down and save every child. The other initiative is of spreading happiness. There are villages without access to electricity and we go there and use solar lighting to light up their houses. It is nice how the transformation has taken place from the pre-light day and post-light days; their whole life changes. It is difficult to imagine this in 2018 but they don’t have access to electricity. I am also supporting ‘Swachh Bharat’ and ‘Road Safety’ as they are critical to our nation.

Life after retirement is hectic, but I'm enjoying it. I'm getting to know a different side of life. For 24 years I was focusing on cricket and nothing else. I feel the first innings of my life was playing cricket and chasing my own dream - and the dream was to win the World Cup. The second innings of my life, the post cricketing years, is to try and give back something to the people who have wished well for me.

I wasn’t allowed to bunk practice because my coach would come home or my brother would take me there. Yes, there were practice sessions I would think of bunking because my friends were going for a movie but I couldn’t! At that time I would feel sad that I wasn’t getting enough time to spend with friends but when I look back at all those sessions I didn’t bunk, I realise I learned so many things I wouldn’t have, had I missed them. Those are the things that were very important for my growth as a cricketer. So, no I wouldn’t bunk. I would feel like, but I wasn’t allowed (smiles).

I will always be a sportsman at heart! Acting doesn’t come naturally to me so that was one of things I told the makers – as long as there is not much acting involved, you can capture whatever you want (laughs!). I wanted it to be as natural and normal as possible.

We wanted to show something to people which they have not seen or heard of. There are two sides to a coin and people have not seen the other side of the coin so I wanted to leave something behind for them when they leave the theatres. Yes, before putting out family videos, I spoke to my family to ensure they were comfortable. They too understand that people would like to know more about me and get closer to me and even I feel I should be closer to them. So we reached a meeting point where the audience feels they have got something to remember and we have also given something to them that we were comfortable with.

The 2011 World Cup was really special for me and I am talking only about my cricketing career. Otherwise, there have been many private moments but when it comes to an on-field moment, it is priceless for me. The whole country came to a standstill. The celebrations thereafter were something else. The journey from the Wankhede stadium to the Taj Hotel which normally takes 10 minutes took us 2.5 hours to reach because of people on the streets and those hours were incredible.

I will be happy if people appreciate the hard work that has gone into it. Also, through this movie, I want to let the current generation know facts about the game and the passion it requires. When I started playing cricket, I didn’t have these cars and other fancy things happening around me now. I started my career travelling by buses and trains, carrying my kit around. There were occasions when I got pushed around. Sometimes I would miss the bus. My cricket started from there, but slowly and steadily it progressed. And it all happened because of the passion and love for the game. So, I hope that people, especially the young generation, whatever they want to be in life, realise that they need to be passionate. It should not be your profession, it should be your passion. The journey should begin from your heart and then, as time goes by, your brain starts guiding you to discover avenues to reach your destination. But whenever the journey begins from your heart, you’re prepared to accept challenges and overcome those obstacles. However, if it begins from your brain and then you try to introduce your heart into it, that’s when things don’t work out.