He is a bundle of emotions on the field - a gentle smirk if the batsman has been deceived by his guile, a wry smile if he has been hit for a four almost as if to say ‘I am going to come back and get you’ and a child-like jubilation after picking up a wicket. That spring in the stride, the pug-like tongue out and the hands moving up and down in elation all so synonymous to the Hoggy’s school of theatrics were on full display at the Eden Gardens on Sunday night. He is 45 mind you, but still has an enthusiasm of a teenager; an eagerness to keep improving and reinventing himself according to the changing times in cricket to marvel in a sport that is so close to his heart. It is in this heartening chat with IPLT20.com that Hogg gets talking about his secret mantra for success, his never ending love for the game and how the wily young fox still manages to put his ‘A’ game forward each time he turns up on the cricket field. Read on to find out more. You turned 45 just a couple of months back but the enthusiasm is still that of a youngster. It sure seems like you are enjoying every moment on the field.

(Laughs) I am close to the other end of my life so I got to enjoy each moment as much as I can. I have really enjoyed the game of cricket. It has given me so much. Hopefully when the career does finish, I can give a lot back. I just enjoy this. It is something that I have always been passionate about. I still remember as a youngster I always wanted to play cricket and when you can remember that and you still have that dream, it just pushes you forward. I just want to go for as long as I can. I retired in 2008, was out of the game for three years and didn’t pick up the bat or ball for a while and then when I came back, I just realised how much I missed it. It is just great to be able to play. If you have got a gift and the passion then you can still go out there and do a reasonable job. If you are not letting your team down, you can keep going. You spoke about the desire to play and passion to get back. How did you fit yourself with changing times and the fast forward format? I have got to be honest with you. When I first started playing the T20 format, it was all about the Perth Scorchers for me, playing for different teams and travelling around the world was just a bonus. For the first couple of years I couldn’t get involved into the culture and didn’t know the culture. But over the last few years, be it with the Rajasthan Royals and the two years that I have been with the Kolkata Knight Riders, I have managed to be able to get into the culture of the team and the team’s spirit. It makes a huge difference. It is all about the culture that is within the team and if you can find your place in it, it becomes your goal. I found my little niche in the Kolkata Knight Riders and hopefully I can help them get another trophy under their belt. I am actually glad that I have come back and played because you sit down and think – “wow the game has changed”. It is evolving every year and you’ve got to evolve with it. If you don’t go and reinvent yourself, you are going to find yourself on the back foot. Coming into the IPL, having played in a couple of T20 tournaments before would have augured well for you? I am still playing a good amount of club cricket back home which is very competitive. We got into the final, so I had a couple of games where I bowled more than thirty overs. To be able to get a long spell under your belt before you come to a tournament like IPL in match conditions is probably the best practice for you. I am very grateful to my club team back home. It is pretty hard for them when you go and play these T20 tournaments and you are only playing the odd game when you come home. Grass root cricket has given me the opportunity to come here and play again in India. How is it that even at this time and age that you have so much control on your bowling? It is all mental but I think I am very lucky physically that I can still do it. You know, I would still wake up tomorrow morning and not feel sore. The time you start feeling sore and you can’t back up, that is the time you have to think about it. Mentally I am fine. I started bowling when I was 23. I wish I had started bowling when I was 15 or even 10 years of age. I thought I was a quick bowler. If I had that experience early on in my career, you never know what could have happened. You can’t change anything and I wouldn’t want to change anything. I am just very fortunate to be still here. I think the secret is being healthy. That is the number one thing in life - if you look after your health you are going to have a happy life. A good day for the bowlers - a lot of assistance for the pacers and the spinners you reckon? It was a bit roughed up but we thought there was a bit of grass on the wicket and we had to play that extra quick bowler. There were some dry patches there as well as the grass and it added that natural variation. If you pitched on the grass, it skidded on and if you got it along the rough patch, it would turn. When you got a wicket like that, when you don’t know what is going to happen at the other end, you got to know what the batsman’s thinking. Obviously, you couldn’t have asked for a better start to the tournament could you? First game at home and a win straight away. I think the most important thing for us is to do well on our home patch. All teams would be looking to win on their home ground. You play on it so much that you have the added advantage in front of the opposition. We have to make sure that we attempt to win all games at home and win a few away as well which will put us in a good position in the finals. It is only early days yet and it is just the start of the tournament. We have trained hard and come as a group. We had the adventurous Mike Horn talk to us the other night about his adventures and some of his stories have really inspired us. I have never seen a group of players who just want to go out and get involved in a cricket game like we did last night.