Kuldeep Yadav makes it clear that cricket is just the sport he plays. Football is where his heart belongs.
He is one of the world's premier white-ball bowlers, and has over 350 wickets across formats for India. The 31-year-old is a key member of India's all conquering T20 side and is a two-time World Cup winner. He became among the most expensive spinners in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when Delhi Capitals paid £1.04 million to retain his services for this season.
Yadav belongs firmly among the top echelon of the game. Yet beyond Test cricket and clips of his own bowling, he hardly watches it.
"[Watching] football is total joy," he tells ESPN.
"You want to watch the best teams play. Even in the Premier League, I watch all the games from mid-table to lower-table teams when they play against each other, whether it's Fulham or Brighton... Nottingham [Forest]. They're good teams."
He has a soft spot for Liverpool but Barcelona is his team. While he began following Barça during their heady days under Pep Guardiola, the love affair truly began when Neymar joined the club in 2013.
Yadav dials in for the interview with ESPN from the Delhi Capitals camp, and says he spent the previous night watching Neymar's Brazilian club Santos play in the Copa Sudamericana -- South America's equivalent of the Europa League.
"He's been playing really well, you watch him play. I watch every game, yesterday he played and he was unbelievable. He's someone who has been God-gifted, so I love to watch him play. He'll be there in the World Cup for sure," Yadav says.
"In cricket also, there's only one Sachin Tendulkar. In football also, there has been only one [Lionel] Messi, [Diego] Maradona, Pele. There's one Neymar."
So how does an international cricketer find the time to follow football so keenly, especially with the time difference?
Yadav says the IPL schedule makes things easier this time of the year. The two-month long summer tournament in India predominantly involves night matches, and the late finishes mean training sessions are held in the evening. This allows Yadav to keep across UEFA Champions League matches, which kick off post-midnight in India. Bedtimes aren't as lax when he's on international duty.
The Indian's passion for the game has grown beyond just consumption. In August last year, he launched a YouTube channel dedicated to football. This was, in part, due to Liverpool's new teen sensation Rio Ngumoha.