Hello Sourav. Thanks for talking to Small Talk.
No problem. Thanks for talking to me.

You're very welcome. To return the favour, how about you answer this: when you were captain you transformed India into a team that could win series overseas for the first time - what was the key?
It was the quality of player that I had under my captaincy. People like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble. We wanted to change things around. We wanted to be different from the past and we had the talent to do it.

You had a good record against Australia. What's the secret to beating them?
We had players whose performances went up a notch or two playing against Australia, whether it's VVS, Sachin, Anil or Harbhajan.

Small Talk recalls in particular Harbhajan in the 2001 series in India. He had Ricky Ponting on a string, didn't he?
[Dreamily] Yeah … He single-handedly won the series. We fought hard like the England team did in 2005 when they won the Ashes. We played aggressively in terms of body language and everything else.

Do you think your hundred against the Aussies at Brisbane in 2003 was your best Test innings, given the strength of their fast bowling?
Well, it was one of my best. I got an 87 against South Africa this year in Kanpur on an absolute minefield. That was very good. And my 238 against Pakistan last September when India were 60-4 — that was memorable too.

You called it a day on your captaincy career at about the same age as Michael Vaughan did and you kept on playing. Do you think Vaughan can?
Of course. He will play better. He's a quality player. And he's a young man. He's England's best batsman along with Kevin Pietersen. It's the same with everyone. You fail a few times. But he will score runs.

How do you think KP will do as captain? Will it affect his batting?
Not so far, anyway. But obviously captaincy is a long process. It takes its toll as time goes on. That's the reason Vaughan gave up the job. But I think Pietersen is the best man to captain England. He's a quality player. He's positive. He takes risks.

You'll be facing him in November for the Test series. Are England your favourite opponents? You average 57 against them ...
That's not a bad average actually. Hopefully I can carry on with that.

Looking forward to facing your old adversary Andrew Flintoff?
Yeah, he's a quality cricketer. He's come back again after a long time, and him and Steve Harmison will be good in India.

Your hero when you were growing up was David Gower. Did you know that? No, hold on, that's not the question. Here it is: did you model your imperious left-handed elegance on his game?
No, not really. I batted left-handed and liked the way he played. Very graceful. And he's a good man. I know him personally and he's a good person.

He's also right-handed when he's not batting, like you. Do you think all batsmen should play with their strong hand at the top of the bat?
Yes, conventionally right-handed and bat left. I think it's an advantage in some ways. But a lot of the power comes from the bottom hand.

You were one of the few Indian batsmen who didn't get out to Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis in the Test series you've just played. Have you found the secret to playing him?
I could pick him. I picked him out of the hand. But he troubled quite a few of our batsmen and the way he bowled he'll trouble everyone around the world.

Did you tell your team-mates how to pick him?
We all discussed it, but it's just one of those things. He kept bowling good balls. He's very accurate.

Did you even pick his "flicker"?
Yes. I saw that one coming.

In England there's always an underlying suspicion that county cricket might be rubbish. Is that your impression?
No. I don't agree. And I think if they bring back two overseas players then I think it will be much more competitive. They need to put a limit on the Kolpak players and have two from overseas, then it will be much better.

You're one of the best one-day cricketers of all time. Why are England usually so terrible at the one-day game?
Because they need to pick specialist players. There are too many bits-and-pieces players. It's always been like that. And they need to take one-day cricket a lot more seriously. One-day cricket must be taken with equal importance to Test cricket.

You've played all around the world. Where do you get the best teas?
In England. I love playing England. The teas at Lord's are good quality.

Are you really going to play football for Chirag United in the I-League in September?
Not. It's not true. But that's India for you. There are a lot of stories.

Do you ever watch the English Premier League?
I used to watch Manchester United a lot when David Beckham was there, but not any more now he's gone.

You're 36. What are your ambitions? Would you like to run Indian cricket?
No. I'm interested in helping cricketers to get better, but definitely not in the administration.

Would you like to get back in the India one-day team and play for a few more years?
I don't think that's likely because they're looking at younger players.

But you're still available if India comes calling?
Yes, yes, yes.

Sourav is promoting Vyke phone technology for calling abroad cheaply from your mobile. He reckons it's "a very useful service for people like us who are away from home all the time"