In bowlers' meetings we talk a lot about patience here in India. You need that more than anywhere in the world. Outfields are fast, pitches are slow, the ball gets soft. Bowlers are more crucial than batters.

I am an attacking batsman, but I've learned a lot about patience. There are clever bowlers who can pick your weak points, so I have to be a bit patient, play out a spell or two.

When you are playing Under-17 or U-19, the captain is of the same age as the rest of us. His knowledge was also as limited as the other players, so there was greater responsibility on the bowlers to understand themselves and their bowling, read the pitch, and set fields accordingly.

An out-and-out fast bowler is one of the great sights in cricket.

What batsmen like me do for fitness is often a bit different to what bowlers like Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad do but everyone in the squad has a big focus on core strength. It is really important for batting, bowling and fielding. You need a strong core and spine so your movement isn't restricted out there.

When I began, I was more of a swing bowler with little pace, but I realized it will be difficult to sustain without the pace, so my fitness has now allowed me maybe an extra yard of pace. That has been the secret of my success.

The bowlers I respected or feared or rated were not the ones who gave me lip or stared at me or abused me. More the ones who, at any stage of the game, when had they had the ball in hand, they were going to be at me, and they were going to have the skill and the fitness and the ability to be aggressive.

I was a bowler - left arm, smash it down as fast as I could. I did a lot of work with Damian D'Oliveira, and I probably had a chance of doing that for a living. But when I reached 16, I knew I couldn't carry on playing both football and cricket, and I was already in the Shrewsbury squad.

My only problem is the fear that opposition bowlers might go for my fingers and that's why I was scared of the short ball. Now I am struggling with the ball pitching up and swinging away. I just keep nicking that one.

Wasim and Waqar were amazing bowlers. I would put them right up there with the best in the world.