After a high-intensity Champions Trophy, it was a taste of some maidan cricket for New Zealand's Daniel Vettori. The Kiwi vice-captain, flanked by kids, walked into the field at the Parsee Gymkhana to take on an equally young team led, by Chris Cairns, during a promotional event.
For the players, who have to cope with strict security constraints, the open field, lined by railway tracks at one end, provided a better feel of the cricket atmosphere in Mumbai. While Cairns was an imposing figure with his big built and flashy persona, the bespectacled Vettori played more the elder brother, giving his players high-fives after every ball and merged well into the team.
"I have always enjoyed playing cricket in India," said Vettori. "I appreciate the enthusiasm for cricket in India and the adulation. The person you least expect to know about the game rattles out your statistics and know when you made your debut."
Cairns XI won the toss and batted first. Vettori handed the ball to his opening bowler and set the field, but it was some time before the batsmen stepped in. A wicket fall brought in the burly Cairns. Having given up cricket last year, he was ready to have a go with the bat. No mercy; bowling to him was one-foot tall Jasminder Singh and Cairns pasted him for a six.
He handled his former teammate, Vettori with the same contempt, trashing him for two sixes and a four.
But Cairns found his nemesis in another one-footer, Sharad Swaminathan. After Sharad's first ball failed to reach the batsman, Vettori requested the umpire to bring forth the crease. It didn't help much as the ball would bounce twice thrice before it reached Cairns. On the fifth delivery, the batsman came out to reach it but the ball slid along the ground and Cairns was out stumped!
"Actually, I didn't see the bowler," smiled Cairns.
"Tell these people how we planned to get Chris out," Vettori joked with Sharad later. "I enjoyed the game. Enjoyed it a lot since we won."
Coming to serious cricket, vice-captain Vettori thinks New Zealand is keen to shed the tag of dark horses and need a breakthrough in major tournaments to be compared with the top teams in the world.
The Kiwis, whose only big victory came at the 2000 Champions Trophy in Nairobi, reached the semi-finals in India too but have somehow found it difficult to raise the bar in the later stages of a tournament.
"We obviously don't like being tagged as dark horses," said Vettori. "We have to win games consistently to be in the list of favourites for the World Cup. The team would more or less be the same as this but we need to get more runs at the top, that's the priority."
Cairns agreed that New Zealand needed to get the top-order sorted out as soon as possible. The bowling was alright but New Zealand need to get the balance right to actually start thinking about the World Cup.
"A bowler like Shane Bond can make difference to any team. He is such a big weapon, and in this tournament he formed a very good partnership with Kyle Mills. But it's the number three, four and five in the batting order that look a little shaky."
The former player was also pleasantly surprised with the resurgence of West Indies cricket and believes that the best two teams in the Champions Trophy competed in the final.
"West Indies were not a patch on this side when they toured New Zealand. Chris Gayle has made a huge difference, also (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, who wasn't cut out for captaincy, is a much better player under Lara. The team is playing some exciting cricket and I am glad for them. It is necessary that the host nation performs well in the World Cup to get the crowd going."
While Cairns spoke elaborately with the media, Vettori found himself a quiet corner in the pavilion. A Liverpool and Steven Gerrard fan, the 27-year-old likes not doing much during the breaks from cricket.
But cricket crazy kids with an open access to international players are difficult to curb. Soon, even the corner started filling up and Vettori was more than happy to hold an impromptu mini-coaching session.
