The Berlin Defence suited my strategy for the match. I had a defensive strategy - Actually, I had in my pocket some other sharper stuff to fall back on - but first I wanted to try the defensive strategy with Black and it worked so well.
By the time I made my international debut Tendulkar was already being counted among the best batsmen in the world. Most bowlers knew that his was the crucial wicket in an Indian batting line-up that boasted of many talented batsmen.
This is the pinnacle of the basketball world, you know, in the NBA you're playing against the best guys in the world, and best defensive players in the world, so you have to be able to outthink them and make the right decisions.
Incentives are not strategy, they are tactics. Defensive measures.
The official strategy is defensive pessimism, always.
Defensive strategy never has produced ultimate victory.
I've always thought of myself as the best defensive player in the league, and I want to play like the best defensive player in the league.
You have to win games by scoring points, of course, so that's important. But when you're having nights against a good defensive team, you have to win in a different manner. You have to win a defensive-type game.
I have always said the most difficult batsman to bowl against is the man who is in form. You may have seen the best batsmen get out early when they are not in form, but an in-form batsman is difficult to dismiss.
That's what cricket's all about: two batsmen pitting their wits against one another
The best strategy is a balance between having a deliberate one, and a flexible, or emergent strategy.
When you're in operations, the best thing you can do at the top level is get the strategy right. You have to get the big ideas right, you have to determine what is the policy, what is the level of effort you're willing to commit to it? And then you delegate to those who have to execute that strategy to the appropriate level. What's the appropriate level? It's the level where people are trained and equipped to take decisions so we move swiftly against the enemy.
Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game. You can devise a foolproof defensive strategy and prepare your players for every possible eventuality. But if the players don’t have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won’t pay off. And the bond that unites a team can be so fragile, so elusive.
I would prefer to play for and against an attacking team, but I am now used to playing against defensive teams.
Indian batsmen, including Virat Kohli will find it difficult to score runs against Pakistan.
You see teams buy a lot of batsmen for a lot of money because they are good batsmen. But you also need good bowlers to get them out or contain the runs.