If I can bat against someone who is bowling 145 kph on a challenging wicket – that confidence is really important.
Usually when you get on the sweet spot of the bat, you don’t really feel it.
A large part of my childhood was spent holding a cricket bat. The first time I picked one up was in the garden aged about six, and I’ve never really put the bat down since.
I like to think of the world’s greatest athlete coming up to bat against me – Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, I don’t care who it is – and I’m looking at him thinking, you have no chance.
I faced odds when glaucoma took the bat out of my hands. But I didn’t give in or feel sorry for myself. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: ‘It may be cloudy in my right eye, but the sun is shining very brightly in my left eye.’
As a member of the Senate Aging Committee, I’ve gone to bat for seniors by cracking down on senior fraud, combating price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, and pushing for wealthy individuals to contribute their fair share to Social Security.
In high school, I taught dance classes for 3-year-olds up to 16-year-olds, so between that and some bat mitzvah money, I saved up a pretty good nest egg to move to L.A.
I played softball and basketball growing up. I really wanted to play football but both parents said no. I was mad for a second, then got over it. Now, just because I’m tall doesn’t mean I can play basketball. I was waaaaay better at swinging a bat.
It’s a big part of me still, as is being athletic – although these days I find myself playing tennis, hiking, and doing yoga and Pilates rather than swinging a bat.
You know I could get hit with a baseball bat and it don’t mean nothing.
When I first signed to RCA, I was sort of excited and shocked that it was happening. But over the next couple of years, it really started to feel like that game you play when you’re a little kid – the one where you put your nose on a bat and then spin around and try to walk.
My microphone skills were developed at a young age watching my dad on the microphone. My dad DJ’ed bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, things of that nature.
I was fortunate in college to play as a freshman, but in the NBA, not a lot of rookies are coming in and making a significant impact right off the bat.
The pitcher has got only a ball. I’ve got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.
I’ve heard there are troubles of more than one kind; some come from ahead, and some come from behind. But I’ve brought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see; now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
There is nothing as fun as making a cultural splash with a movie. Sometimes the splash happens, like with ‘Swingers,’ where it sort of slowly ripples out, yet everybody could quote it. Or it could be something like ‘Elf,’ where you just make a big splash right off the bat when the movie comes out.
The adrenaline is very important for me when I go in to bat. That makes me tick, makes me think better. When your energy is up and running, you have a much better chance of doing well.
The Olympics are great for notoriety right off the bat, but your body of work is what people remember you for.
I try to hit the ball along the ground, especially against fast bowlers. I also like the bat to come down in the right position and check if my body position is correct. If I’m really watching the ball carefully, then automatically I’m in a good position to hit it down the ground.
I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That’s when you’ve got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing’s a joke to me. I don’t feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.
This game’s a lot easier early on in your career because people haven’t seen you play. Things got a lot harder when people saw what I did with the ball and began to think about how to bat against me.
If Trescothick had tried to get me off the field when batting well, I’d have hit him with my bat.
Whenever I go out to bat, my only responsibility is to look at the scoreboard and think what India needs from me at this moment.
I had a bat mitzvah, was confirmed, went to Jewish summer camp, I go to temple for the High Holy Days. I think, like most people in their early 20s, I kind of strayed away from it. I think once I have a family I’ll be back into it.
When I look at someone like Andrew Symonds, I see a player who has done phenomenally well with the bat, as his record shows. He certainly has the ability to be a very good all-rounder, but I think to be a great one, you need to be able to turn a game with the bat or the ball.
I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
