Gaurav Kalra: You are now not only one of the world's most gifted cricketers but also one of the world's richest cricketers. The Hyderabad paid a lot of money to get you over here.
Andrew Symonds: Yes, the auctioning system was obviously the first of its kind and it threw some sort of an amazing results and obviously it was one of those.
Gaurav Kalra: After the auction , Ricky Ponting in a Press Conference said that we are now expecting Andrew Symonds to pay for the drinks every time we go out.
Andrew Symonds: The morning after the auction, the boys came to me to pay the bills.
Gaurav Kalra: And have you started paying them? Because I also read somewhere that Ponting even said that 'when we go out, Symonds is not someone who takes out the wallet very easily.'
Andrew Symonds: (laughs). Ya, that is ok! I think I will have to live with that I suppose.
Gaurav Kalra: So, the money is still staying in the pocket?
Andrew Symonds: I won't be spending any on Ricky now.
Gaurav Kalra: Let's talk about the money thing a bit. It is funny how so much of money became a part of this process. And inevitably so, because it is such a public process. Was there a sense of nervousness in the players' minds, such as 'guess, what I am going to be worth of or I wonder what it is going to be like.'
Andrew Symonds: I wasn't because I had no idea what was going to happen. So, I just went to bed, then woke up and found the news that different figures had been dealt out to different players, all different types and from different countries. It was quite interesting but a lot of it didn't make sense. Did it?
Gaurav Kalra: Ya, a lot of it didn't make sense. But was at any time any fear cropped up that it might cause discomfort in the dressing room?
There was one line of thinking that said that some of it doesn't make sense as you yourself agree and even some of the Indian players also felt that way.
Was there ever a fear that maybe in an Australian dressing room some might have felt that 'Oh! this just doesn't add up'?
Andrew Symonds: Not really because the players weren't responsible for any of the bidding. It wasn't like we negotiated our contracts. So, there was no problems with us because it was a bidding from outside.
Gaurav Kalra: OK! What are you going to do with all this money? You are known to be a bit of a wild guy. So, you may be buying a boat or a beach in Brisbane. What are you thinking to doing with it?
Andrew Symonds: I love fishing, so I will probably buy some fishing nets.
Gaurav Kalra: You will have a lot of them with so much money.
Andrew Symonds: My life won't change. It will be the same. It is just I suppose it gives you that stability, knowing that you can pay your bills.
Gaurav Kalra: We have talked a bit about the money but there was a reason as well. There was a lot of thinking going on and one of the reasons was that people wanted multi-skilled cricketers and they don't come more multi-skilled than Andrew Symonds. Was that something that came to
your advantage? You can bat, you can bowl - spin, medium pace, you can catch like anybody in the world. Does that all add up?
Andrew Symonds: Ya! It gives the captains more options. The all-rounders go for more money as they are multi-skilled. So, it helps in T20 because if you can't get runs, you can always contribute with the ball and then filed also as well as you can.
Gaurav Kalra: Is there pressure now? Everyone says that we have paid a lot of money for Andrew Symonds, so he better come up and perform for us in the IPL?
Andrew Symonds: My attitude to cricket and sport is - if you give your best that will be all. And I will be doing that and hopefully I will be able to put some results on the board for the boys.
Gaurav Kalra: Can we talk a bit about the team? First of all I want to ask you that playing alongside Gilly (Adam Gilchrist), whom you just bid a
very emotional farewell in Australia, who was retiring from Test and the One-Dayers. Then again immediately being a part of the dressing room with him, can you tell us a bit about that.
Andrew Symonds: A part of the excitement I suppose was actually in having a teammate in the dressing room on the Chargers' soil. And it being Gilly made it a lot more comfortable. I wasn't coming into the team role sort of completely but now that he is there. And Gilly being really good with the other people, so he will be great with the young players and it will here for the full season. So, he can do a full job - he can start, and hopefully skill some of the younger players up and watch them develop throughout the competition.
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